Kid Flash and Artemis
by The daugther of Death
Summary: It started with a kiss and that was the easy part. But when Artemis and Wally started dating, they didn't see the problems that would come with it. People from Artemis' past and family, that isn't done with her come back and cause trouble. But in the end ... is she the one with all the secrets? Or is it Wally?
1. Chapter 1

"If A is fifteen and B is seventeen, what is C then?"

Artemis looked at him with a blank expression. "No idea,"

Wally signed. "Come on, if A²+B²=C² … come on Artemis, it's easy..."

Then she signed and leaned up against him. "I'm tired."

Wally just looked down at the math book. "If you don't get this, then we need to start with something simpler."

"Do we have to do this now?" She asked sleepy and kissed his neck.

"Your mom said you at least have to get an A on your midterms," he said and tried not to smile as she kissed his neck some more.

"Who cares," she whispered. "My mom can't enforce her threats, so why even bother?"

"You maybe not afraid her, but I am," Wally said and push her head gently away from his neck.

She rolled her eyes at him.

"What are you doing?"

They both turned around in the couch, it was Robin.

"Trying to teach Arts about the wonders of the Pythagorean theorem," he said and continued with a smile. "But it doesn't seem to be sinking in."

"Really?" He asked, as he came closer and leaned up against the backrest of the couch. "But isn't that the easiest formula?"

Artemis looked from one to the other with an irritated expression.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She said in a low, threatening voice.

The two boys smiled at each other.

Then Superboy and Miss Martian came in.

"You guys are back early," Robin stated.

"Yes," M'gann said, cheerful as always. "One of our teachers became sick so we got the last period off."

"Connor, if using the Pythagorean theorem and A is fifteen and B is seventeen, what is C then?"Wally asked over his shoulder.

Connor didn't even blink. "Twenty-two point six, seven, one."

Wally looked at Artemis with a smug smile.

Artemis threw a fist in his direction, but he caught it just before it hit his face.

"Arts I thought we were making some progress here," he said, clearly finding this amusing.

She ripped her fist out of his hold and got off the couch.

"You're such a geek!" She said and stormed off.

"Connor didn't even have to use a calculator!" He yelled after her, but she was already gone.

"I think you went a little too far," Robin stated.

Wally shrugged. "Maybe, but she likes it."

Robin huffed. "If you say so."

Wally leaned back against the couch and smiled. Then he looked over at Connor and M'gann "So … if you're free now M'gann, are you going to bake cookies?"

* * *

She threw a stone out into the water.

"That's not how you skip stones."

She turned around. "Hey Zatanna, when did you come back?"

"Just now," She answered and came closer. "So what are you angry about?"

Artemis just turned around and threw another stone.

"Wally?" Zatanna guessed.

Artemis just threw another stone.

Zatanna signed. "He is kind of a handful, isn't he?" She asked and stepped up on her side.

"Yeah," Artemis said through clenched teeth and threw another stone.

"You know..." Zatanna said as she leaned forward with a wry smile. "This isn't normally what girls do when they're angry at their boyfriends..."

Artemis turned to her with narrowed eyes, clearly not happy. "Then what do they do?"

Zatanna still smiled. "One word: Shopping."

* * *

"Hey, mom!" He yelled at he ran into the house.

"How was your day?" His mother asked with a gentle smile from the kitchen door.

He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I think I lost my girlfriend, but school was good."

She shook her head smiling and went back into the kitchen.

"What are you making?" He asked and ran to the door.

"No running in the house," his dad said behind him.

He turned around smiling, as slowly as he could.

His dad raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not impressed by his little joke.

"Have you done your homework?" He asked.

Wally straightened his back. "Yes, sir!"

"And cleaned your room?" His dad then asked.

Wally signed. "No..."

His dad's face clearly showed that that wasn't the right answer.

Wally signed again. "I'll go clean it right now," he said defeated and walked to his room.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, his phone rang.

It was Artemis.

"Yes?" He answered and sat down on his bed.

"Wally?" She said. "About what happened today..."

"Yeah … I'm sorry about … I went a little too far."

"Yeah," She just said.

He smiled. "So … am I forgiven?"

He heard, what sounded like a chuckle. "I guess so."

There was quiet for a bit.

"Me, Zatanna and M'gann are going shopping tomorrow, so I'm not going to be able to make it to your tutoring." She then said.

"That's okay," he said. "I can't make it either, I have to study with my lab partner tomorrow."

"Oh … Okay..." She almost sounded disappointed.

He smiled. She probably wanted him to be disappointed.

"Wally, dinner's ready!" He heard his mother yell from the kitchen.

* * *

He sat down at the table. His dad sat across from him.

His mother put a plate in front of him, with steaks and potatoes piled up.

He smiled at her and started eaten.

"When are your midterms?" His dad suddenly asked.

Wally stopped his eaten and put the fork down.

"In the last part of March." He said.

"And how are your grades?"

"Good," he answered. "I'm going to go studying in Metropolis tomorrow with Lia, their library is the only one that has what we need."

His dad nodded.

Wally put the fork in his mouth.

"Why are you so concerned? I always do good on my midterms." He asked.

"I'm just looking out for your own good, you have great potential, and you need to keep doing good in school, so you can get some great opportunities."

Wally thought about it for a second, then put the fork in his mouth again and nodded.

* * *

"So why did we come to Metropolis?" Artemis asked as they got off the bus.

"They have some of the best shops around," Zatanna said and pulled her down the street by the arm.

M'gann followed behind them.

"You two know I'm not really into this kind of..."

"Look at that!" M'gann cut Artemis off and pointed to a store across the street.

Zatanna looked at Artemis with a raised eyebrow. "Let's go check it out."

Artemis signed.

* * *

"This is really cute, don't you think so?" M'gann asked and showed her a bright yellow shirt.

She raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. "Why do you even look at clothes? Can't you just change into whatever you want?"

M'gann's expression didn't falter.

"Yeah," she said and looked down at the shirt in her hand. "But it's fun, isn't it?"

Artemis shrugged.

"Hey, look at this," Zatanna said, she was standing a few clothes racks away.

"What is it?" Artemis asked.

Zatanna showed her a flier. "It says, there's a discount for the students at this nail salon down the street."

Artemis almost cringed and looked down at her nails. Would that affect her archery?

"Can you even do that?" She asked M'gann, hoping she would turn down.

M'gann showed her, her hands, and her nails changed color and became bright red.

"I'll just watch you get your nails painted." She smiled.

Artemis smiled nervously but followed them nonetheless.

They walked down the street.

"When we're done at the nail salon, we can go find somewhere to get something to eat," Zatanna said and looked around.

"Yeah," Artemis said.

She didn't have anything against shopping or Zatanna and M'gann, but she was really bored right now.

"Artemis, didn't you say Wally was studying today?" M'gann suddenly asked she sounded surprised.

"Yeah?" She said confused.

"But isn't that him?" M'gann asked and pointed across the street.

Wally was walking down the opposite sidewalk, with a soda in one hand and talking and smiling with a beautiful girl with long black hair.

Artemis' eyes widen.

They were holding hands.


	2. Chapter 2

**I had a bad day and need sympathy...**

 **Also here's a new chapter.**

* * *

"Let's go get something to eat, before we go home." Lia said and dragged him by the hand to the nearest cafe.

He nodded.

They sat down at a cafe and ordered some food.

"Don't you think it's weird, that we had to come all the way to Metropolis to find the materiel we need?" Lia asked and took a drink from her cola.

"Not really," Wally said. "Xenothium is a very rare thing. I mean, I had never heard about it before you brought it up."

Lia nodded and looked down at the bag of books they had brought with them from the library.

"I just hope we have enough to finish the report." She said.

Wally took a drink from his cola and nodded. Then a waitress came with their food.

He put a fry in his mouth. "I still think we're messing with something, we shouldn't."

Lia tilted her head to the side. "You don't think it's fun."

Wally shrugged. "We're only working on a theoretical level, so it's fine. But we still haven't found a way it can be useful."

Lia nodded and took a bite of her burger.

"We could make an indestructible bodysuit for military soldiers." She suggested.

Wally suddenly bursted out laughing.

Lia raised a concern eyebrow at him. "What is it?"

"We doing this backwards, people normally don't start experimenting on something before they have a plan and goal, or even an idea, in mind. We trying to compose a theory of how to stabilise one of the most unstable substances in the world, and we don't even have an idea of what to use it for."

Lia nodded deep in thought and took another bite of her burger.

"But _if_ we find a way to stabilise it," she said. "The teacher is definitely going to be impressed."

Wally held up a finger, while he finished chewing.

"But," he started. "If we don't find a reason for the theory then it could pull down our grade."

Lia nodded in agreement with a serious expression.

"We should go home and sleep on this," she said. "I'm sure, we can figure something out."

Wally smiled at her. "So we're really doing this backwards?"

"Yeah," She laughed. "We have done weirder things."

Wally nodded. "That's true."

They ate in silent for a minute.

"How did you even find out about xenothium?" He then asked.

Lia looked down, she seemed to be thinking about it. Then she looked up at him.

"I … I actually got this weird email, with no sender, that explained what xenothium was and just how unstable it was."

Wally's eyes widened in shock.

"So you just decide that was going to be our next project?" he asked in disbelieve.

She shrugged. "I was curious. I figured if I found out about xenothium, I would find out who send me the email."

Wally put another fry in his mouth and nodded.

"But why would anyone send you an email like that? I mean we're still in high school." He asked.

"Yeah..." Lia said and looked down at the table and then looked up at him again. "So … are you out of the project?"

Wally didn't even think about.

"No," he shook his head smiling. "We're already in this, we might as well finish it."

Lia nodded with a smile.

"Are you finished with ours?" He asked.

She looked down at the rest of the burger.

"Yeah," she said and got up.

Wally got up and took the bag of books. "Then we better be going, before our parents wonder why we're not back by now."

Lia laughed and nodded.

Wally held his other hand out to her.

He took it, and they walked towards the bus stop.

* * *

"This is so creepy..." Zatanna whispered, as they watched Wally and the blackhaired girl eat from around the corner.

"Who do you think she is?" M'gann asked.

Artemis clenched her hands into fists, so tight that her knuckles turned white.

"Why don't you find out?" She asked through clenched teeth.

M'gann looked at the blond with concern. "You want me to read their minds?"

"Yeah," she said without taking her eyes off the two. "Is it a problem?"

"Look, Artemis..." Zatanna said hesitantly. "I know that you must be hurt, but we shouldn't use M'gann's powers on him."

Artemis dug her nails into the palm of her hand.

"He said, he was going to study with his lab partner." She said through clenched teeth.

Zatanna leaned around the corner to get a better look at them.

"That's one hell of a lab partner," she said and then looked at Artemis. "What are they studying? The chemistry between teenagers?"

"Zatanna..." M'gann said nervously. "I don't think..."

Artemis put her fist to the wall.

Then Wally suddenly busted out laughing.

Artemis looked around the corner with murder in her eyes.

M'gann put a hand on his shoulder. "I know how this looks … but maybe you should talk to him."

Artemis turn around and looked at her with dark eyes.

"Oh, I'll talk to him, I can't promise he'll be close to okay when I'm through with him, but I'll talk to him." She whispered.

Zatanna signed and shook her head. "I hate to say it, but maybe you should listen to M'gann."

Artemis raised an eyebrow her. "You're defending him?"

"No of course not!" She said. "But you should at least get an explanation, before you beat him up."

"What is there to explain?" She asked.

They watched as Wally and the girl got up, Wally held out his hand for her and she took it, and they walked away together.

M'gann and Zatanna looked at each other.

"So … what now?" M'gann asked.

Zatanna put a hand on Artemis' shoulder.

"Let's just go home..."

* * *

"Master, the plan has been set in motion." The man said as he stood in the shadows.

The man in front of him, sitting under a single ray of light, smiled.

He folded his hands and looked at the man in the shadows. "And you think that she is capable?"

The man nodded. "She's perfect for this mission, and no one will suspect her."

The man sitting in the light nodded and made a gesture to the shadows.

Another person holding a small container came forward, he was dressed in black from head to toe.

The man in the light took the container and looked at closely.

"Then we should get her what she needs," he said with a evil smile.

The man in the shadows bowed. "Thank you for this opportunity, Master, I will prove my worth to you."

The man in the light nodded slowly.

"You will, you're after all one of my shadows."

* * *

 **Enjoy.**

 **I'll try to update regularly, but I can't promise anything because I'm in the middle of my 2 semester in college.**

 **But please tell me what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I had a good day today, so you get a chapter.**

* * *

"I didn't think you would come to day." Zatanna voice was not much more than a whisper.

Artemis gave her a funny look. "Why wouldn't I come?"

"Well..." she seemed to struggle with finding the right words. "Because Wally's going to be here."

Artemis narrowed her eyes, and clenched her hands into fists.

Zatanna swallowed and gave a her a worried look.

She opened her mouth, but were interrupted by the zeta-beam.

"Kid Flash, B-0-3." The computer voice announced.

"Hey guys," he said, like he always did.

Artemis just shook her head and walked away.

Wally looked confused at her back as she walked away, then turned to Zatanna.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked.

Zatanna just looked him, then turned away and followed Artemis.

Then he turned to the guys.

"What did I do?" He asked clearly confused.

They just shrugged.

"Arts seems to be mad at you." Robin pointed out.

Wally just looked even more confused.

Then Batman appeared on a screen.

"Team there's a mission."

Wally immediately smiled.

"What?" He asked and walked closer to the screen.

"Sportsmaster has escaped from Belle Reve."

Wally smacked himself on the forehead and let his hand glide down his face.

"This is so not going to help, at all." He signed.

* * *

"He was tracked to this building?" Robin asked.

M'gann nodded.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"So … let's go." Wally said, just wanting to get this over with.

Robin looked at Superboy. "Can you see anything?"

Superboy narrowed his eyes and looked into the building.

"There two people in there."

Aqualad nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

He looked back at her, she looked away.

"So … you're not going to tell me what I did wrong?" He asked.

She just looked at him with narrowed eyes.

He signed and looked ahead.

"Why did Kaldor have to put us together, when you're like this?" He asked out loud.

She didn't say anything.

He signed again.

"Why did I come here?"

Kid flash turned around.

"Did you hear that?" He whispered.

Artemis listened and nodded.

"We needed to get them off our trail..." Someone said.

"They're a bunch of kids! You think I'll let them catch me!"

They slowly creeped closer to the voices.

"You trained one of those _kids_." The voice sounded dry and old.

"That doesn't matter," Sportsmaster said. "Artemis isn't anything to worry about."

"Your last battle seem to tell otherwise." The other one said.

The person was standing in the shadows, they couldn't see him from where they were standing.

Sportsmaster took at threatening step forward.

"I didn't come here to be told off by someone like you," he almost growled.

"No..." the man in the shadows said. "You're the distraction."

Then the figure in the dark turned slightly and looked directly at them.

They both tensed.

Sportsmaster followed his line of sight and looked right at them too.

"Well …" he said in a low voice. "If it isn't my other spawn."

Artemis bit her lib. "Oh, shut up!"

Wally looked at her, then down at the man in the shadows, he wasn't there anymore.

Sportsmaster pulled out a chain. "Let's see just how bad you've become."

Artemis ran towards him in blind rage.

Kid Flash signed.

"Guys, we found him." He said over the psychic-link and looked at Artemis, who shooting a rain of arrows towards Sportsmaster. "And you better come quickly, or there won't be any of him left."

* * *

"Is this all you got, baby girl?" He asked, clearly laughing through his mask.

"Why can't you just shut up!" She said through clenched teeth. First, she had to deal with Wally playing stupid, and now him!

Sportsmaster didn't answer her, instead he took a step back.

"This seems like enough," he then said and threw a smoke bomb at the ground.

Artemis ran into the smoke, desperate to find him, but he was not there anymore.

As the smoke cleared the rest of the team came running.

"Where is he?" Aqualad asked.

Artemis slowly turned towards them. She looked down, but it was clear that she was angry.

"He got away." She huffed.

* * *

"Arts it happens to the best of us," Zatanna said and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know," she just said with a stiff expression.

"We'll catch him next time," M'gann said sympathetically as she stirred in a bowl of cookie dough.

"I know." She repeated.

"Look babe it's all going to be fine, so just..." Wally started, but were cut off by a look from Zatanna.

There were silent for a minute or two, then Wally signed loudly.

"Look can't you just tell me what I did?" He asked irritated.

Artemis looked at him with narrowed eyes, and just as she was about to open her mouth his phone went off.

He gave her a look and answered it.

"Yes?"

"Wally,"

"Lia," he said in surprise. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Artemis grind her teeth.

"I have those emails from the anonymous sender, if you're interested."

"I'm very interested," he said with a smile.

"Coming over?"

"Right now?" He asked.

"Yes,"

"Ok, I'm coming." He said and nodded even though she couldn't see her through the phone.

"See you then..."

He put the phone back in his pocket.

"I need to go, something came up," he said and speed towards the exit.

Artemis looked about ready to kill him.

* * *

"Wally," the middle-aged woman greeted him with a smile.

"Is Lia home?" He asked with a smile.

The woman nodded. "She's in her room," she said and opened the door wider.

* * *

"Hey," He said and threw himself on the bed.

Lia sat at her desk.

"Hey." She smiled. "Come look at this."

"What is it?" He asked and got up.

"I got another email, that's why I called you."

Wally came closer and looked at the computer screen.

"We are awaiting an update on your progress?" He read confused.

"What do you think it means?" Lia asked, she sounded scared.

"That whoever send you that email is serious about the xenothium." He said seriously.

"What do we do?" She asked and turned around in her chair to look at him.

"We can do one of two thing," Wally explained. "We can either continue with the project, or forget all about it."

Lia turned back to the computer screen. She stared at it for awhile and then looked at Wally over her shoulder.

"Well … It's kind of interesting, and besides we're only working on a theoretical level." She said with a smile.

Wally signed and shrugged. "Well … it's too late to change the project now anyway."

"So we keep going?" Lia asked and typed something on the computer.

"Yes. Now the problem is still the same … what should we use it for?"

Lia slowly turned around in her chair. "What if we, theoretically of course, make some kind of weapon?"

"What?" Wally asked surprised.

"To keep up with the theme of the email, they sound to … sinister."

Wally snorted and laughed. Lia joined in.

* * *

"Can you get the new pair of scissors for me, they're in the closet by the door." Her mother asked her from the kitchen.

"Yes," she said and walked out into the hallway.

As she kneel down and looked through the closet, the front door slowly creaked opened.

She looked at it confused and got up.

She opened the door wide and looked around, there was no one out there.

Then she looked down.

On the doorstep was a little container and a note.

She picked up the container and looked at it closely. She had no idea what it was.

Then she picked up the note.

"You have gotten what you need," she read out loud. "Now use it."

The note was signed: _The League of Shadows_.

"Can you find them?" Her mom asked from the kitchen.

She looked around one last time, before she closed the door.

"Hold on one second," she yelled back.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think**

 **I have this feeling that this chapter "slipped" somewhere, but I can't see where.**

 **Until next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I had a good day today.**

 **So you get chapter.**

* * *

"Come on. What did I do wrong?" He asked irritated as he followed Artemis through the cave.

"She still haven't said a word to him?" Robin whispered to Zatanna with an eyebrow raised in confused.

Zatanna shook her head. "And if you ask me he deserves it."

Robin gave her a funny look.

"Do you know what he did?" He asked.

She turned and looked at him with serious expression.

"We saw him holding hands with a another girl that day we went to Metropolis." She said.

Robin looked back at Wally, who almost chased Artemis around the room.

He nodded slowly.

* * *

"Going home?"

Wally looked up from the couch.

"Yeah, dude it's about time, isn't it?"

"Artemis is still mad at you?" Robin asked as Wally got up.

"Yeah..." he said, he looked tired. "This time I really don't know what I did."

"Well..." Robin started. "Zatanna said, that she saw you holding hands with someone."

Wally gave him a shocked look. "When?"

Robin shrugged. "A few days ago, I guess … in Metropolis..."

Wally's eyes widened in realization.

He slammed his flat hand against this forehead.

"Oh God, this is going to be hard to explain." He said and speed out of the cave.

* * *

"So if we use our lunch time in the lab, we could … you're not listening, are you?"

"Yes, I am." He said and looked her. "I was just..."

"You didn't sleep well." Lia stated with a smile.

He smiled tired. "You know me too well."

Lia returned the smile and gave his hand a squeeze. "No, I know you just the right amount."

He rubbed his eyes. "I just … I didn't sleep well last night."

Lia leaned forward and looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Girl trouble?" She smiled.

"You have no idea," he said and yawned.

"You want to skip the first period and get some sleep instead?" Lia asked with mischievous smile.

Wally shook his head, but kept smiling. "If my dad finds out, I'm going to be in so much trouble."

Lia giggled. "Yeah, he really is a piece of work. But it could be worse, he could be like my dad."

Wally gave her a worried look and squeezed her hand.

"So..." he started. "You want me to give up my lunch, so we can work on the project?"

"We can just eat our lunch fast and then go to the lab."

Wally signed dramatically. "That's a bit of a stretch Lia, you should never push too many things into a single hour..."

He nearly fell forward, but he managed to catch himself.

He looked confused at Lia, who stood just two footsteps behind him, she looked straight ahead, deep in thought, and still holding his hand.

"Careful." Wally said and snapped her out of whatever trance she was in. "Daydreaming and holding hands can be quite dangerous, I thought we had gone over this."

Lia blinked, then looked at him with a smile. "I just got an idea for what kind of weapon we can make out of the xenothium."

Before Wally could so much as comment, Lia smiled and dragged him down the street towards the school.

* * *

"So if we can compress the liquid into hard matter, and somehow contain the it in state for a time, we can use it like some explosive?" Wally asked

Lia shook her head and looked at the different papers, that were spread around them.

"No … if we can change the liquid into a matter and then change into different substances, then we can for example use it to restrain someone or something."

Wally rubbed chin. "Good idea, but that would mean we have to change the molecular stucture … how would we do that? Adding starch?"

Lia narrowed her eyes in thought.

Wally signed tired. "It's too difficult to figure out on a theoretical level, if we had some xenothium we could figure it out by testing different things."

Lia looked down.

Wally leaned closer to her.

"What wrong?" He asked. "You been acting kind of strange today."

She suddenly looked up. "What if I could get us some xenothium?"

Wally raised an eyebrow at her. "How would you do that? It's not exactly something that can be easily bought."

"I have my ways." She said and got up. "So, what was it that kept you up all night?"

He raised the other eyebrow at her.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a smile. "It was because of a misunderstanding."

* * *

"So we're just waiting for..." M'gann started, when the computer voice announced that Kid Flash was entering the cave. "...Wally."

He didn't even acknowledge the others, but looked straight at Artemis.

"We need to talk..." he said out of breath.

"Not now," Aqualad said. "We have a mission, to track down Sportsmaster."

* * *

"Does Kaldor have no idea what's going on?" He asked aloud.

Artemis glanced at him and picked up the pace.

He signed.

"We need to talk..." he started.

"We don't have anything to talk about," she said angrily over her shoulder.

"Look," he said trying to find the right words. "I know what you saw, but it wasn't like that at all."

"Oh yeah?" She said, clearly not convinced.

He rolled his eyes and signed.

"I can explain what you saw, it was totally innocent!"

She stopped and turned around and looked at him with death written in her eyes.

"You went on a date with another girl! How the hell can that be innocent!" She yelled.

Before he could respond, a dark figure appeared behind Artemis.

She turned around, shocked.

"Well, well," the man said. "What do we have here?"

* * *

"They captured two of them?" Ra's al Ghul seemed surprised.

"Yes, Master." The bowing shadow said. "Sportsmaster's daughter and the speedster."

There was silent for a bit.

The shadow raised his head and looked at his master.

"How … how should we proceed, Master?" He asked.

Ra's al Ghul rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "We can't hurt the girl too badly, she's important. But the boy … I guess he doesn't have any value."

The shadow nodded and looked patiently at his master.

A few seconds went by, then Ra's al Ghul nodded slowly.

"Yes," he said. "I know just what to do with them."

* * *

 **Please tell me what you think, it means a lot to me.**

 **I think the next one is going yo be very interesting**

 **See you next time :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm back! And had another bad day**

 **So you get a chapter.**

* * *

She had a weird feeling, almost like she was floating.

She slowly opened her eyes and gasped. She was dangling over some weird green boiling substance.

"You're awake?" She heard from behind her.

She tried to look over her shoulder. "Wa..." she started.

"Kid Flash," he corrected.

She nodded, even though he couldn't see it, and looked down. "What is that?" She asked.

He looked down and sniffed. "It smells like acid." He stated, he didn't even seem that worried.

"Acid?" she asked in horror.

"Yes." They both turned their heads to look at the man standing on the floor beside the massive container of acid.

"Ra's al Ghul?" Kid Flash seemed surprised.

"Yes," the man repeated.

"You're going drop us in acid?" Artemis asked trying not to show her fear.

"No..." he shook his head. "Only one of you."

"So, we're not tied together?" Kid Flash asked.

Instead of an answer there was a mechanical sound and he was lowered, until his feet were just seven feet from the acid.

"Why not me?" Artemis asked generally confused.

Ra's al Ghul smiled at her. "You still have a purpose, child. Besides … your mother would get upset, and that is something I would rather avoid."

Kid Flash looked at Artemis over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

"So you're judt going to kill him?" She asked.

"Exactly," Ra's al Ghul just said.

"So..." Kid Flash started as he was lowered further down. "Can I explain myself now?"

"What?" Artemis sounded scared.

"Well, if I'm going to die a painful death, I would like to have a clear conscience." He seemed strangely calm.

"Seriously?" Artemis paniced.

"Seriously." He repeated, as his feet got closer and closer to the boiling acid.

Artemis just shook her head, not knowing what to do.

"Her name is Lia," he started. "We meet the first time in kindergarden, where we found out we lived on the same street." He looked at Artemis, she just looked confused, like she wasn't sure why he was telling her this. "Since then we have done everything together, played, studied, science fairs, we have always been best friends."

"Friends!" Artemis said in a sharp tone. "You were holding hands!"

"Because of constant brainwashing by selfish and very cruel moms." He said with a distant smil.

"What?" She asked confused.

"Have you ever heard of stranger danger?" He asked instead of answering. "Well, with your familly strangers properly aren't that dangerous." He then corrected.

"What about it?" She asked with scared eyes, as he was lowered further down.

"Well, mine and Lia's mom told us about it, when we were small." He said and pulled his knees up, so his feet didn't touch the acid. "And they thought it was extremely cute, when we would hold hands, so they told us that if we didn't hold hands a stranger would come and take one of us."

Artemis looked at him over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "Really?"

Wally nodded. "Really."

"So … it really was innocent?" She asked. She had almost forgotten that they there hanging over boiling acid.

"Yes," he breathed and pulled his knees up as high as he could, when he was lowered further down.

Artemis didn't said anything, but nodded slowly.

"So," Kid Flash said. "Am I forgiven?"

Artemis signed, frustrated over the situation.

"Yes," she finally said.

"Good," he said with a smile and started swinging back until his feet touched the edge of the container.

Suddenly the robe that held him up broke and he grabbed for the edge and barely managed to find his balance on the edge of the container.

He straighten his back and looked up at her, like he was calculating something.

She suddenly fellt herself being jerked down. She looked up scarred and saw that her robe was also breaking.

She looked down at him. "Help." It was really just a whisper.

"Just a little more," he said and bend forward when a sai suddenly flew towards him.

The robe broke, Kid Flash jump forwards and the next thing she knew they were standing on the ground, well he was holding her in his arm but still.

She looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"You could have gotten us down anytime?" She asked angry.

He just smiled. "I needed you to listen to me, and buy us some time before the others got here."

Suddenly a gate busted open, it was the rest of the team.

Artemis looked at him, then at the team then back at him, then she slapped him.

"I deserve that," he said with a smile, then directed his attention to the team. "Are we finish here?"

* * *

"So, where are we going?" She asked as Wally was holding her hand, leading her through the crowd.

"I want you to meet Lia," He said and slowed down a little.

"Lia?" Artemis asked. Why were they going to she her?

"I want you to meet her," he said over his shoulder. "She's a good friend that I spend a lot of time, and you're my girlfriend, is it weird that I want you to get along?"

Artemis nodded. "Yeah, yeah, it kind of is."

"Well..." he smiled at her over his shoulder. "I'd like you to meet her anyway."

She just shook her head at him. He was so impossible.

Then he suddenly lifted his other hand in a wave.

"Lia," he called out to the black-haired girl sitting at a cafe, it was the same girl Artemis had seen with Wally in Metropolis.

"Hey," the girl said. She was smiling, but gave Artemis a surprised look.

Artemis glanced at Wally.

He clearly hadn't told her about this meeting either.

Wally just smiled at the blackhaired girl.

"This is my girlfriend, Artemis." He told her and pulled Artemis closer.

Artemis stumbled a bit, while Lia looked at them shocked and confused.

"Girlfriend," she said after a few seconds, and then smiled. "Your the one that keeps him up at night?"

Artemis looked confused at Wally.

He just smiled and pulled out a chair for her.

She sat down across from Lia.

"Wally, why don't you go get us something to drink?" Lia asked Wally smiling.

Wally looked a little taken aback, like he was a little scared of leaving them alone.

"Sure," he said. "What do you want?" He asked Artemis.

"Just a Cola," she said and he left.

"So," Lia started. "How long have you been together?"

"A month..." Artemis said, she wasn't really sure.

Lia nodded. "He was really worried about you a few days ago, is everything okay?"

Artemis felt her face grow warm. "I saw … I saw the two of you in Metropolis one day..."

Lia nodded slowly, like she understood. "You saw us holding hands and thought that there was something going on."

Artemis laughed nervously. "Yeah,"

"Yeah," Lia repeated and studied her hand. "Our moms thought it was so cute, that we were holding hands all the time, so they made up this story that if we didn't hold hands, some strange man would come an take one of us. So … in fear we would always hold hands, and it just became a habit over time."

Artemis raised her eyebrows at Lia, still a little confused about the holding hands part.

"So..." Lia said. "How well do you know him?" She asked and crossed her arms on the table.

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked.

Lia straighten her back. "I've known him since I was four, I have seen him do the craziest things, like when we tried to build an outdoor playhouse out of crayons. It melted in the rain."

Artemis laughed. "He really is strange, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Lia agreed with a smile.

Artemis gave her a genuine smile. "I'm glad there's nothing between the two of you."

"Well … you know," Lia said and twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers. "It's not like I don't like him … in that way."

Artemis' eyes widen in shock, but before she could say something, they were interrupted.

"Hey, ladies." Wally said with a smile. "I've got our drinks."

* * *

She walked into the darkened room and closed the door behind her.

She dropped her bag and threw herself on the bed.

She signed and massages her cheeks. It had been a hard day, and the thing with Wally had been exhausting.

"Rough day?" Someone asked.

"You have no idea," she said and rubbed her eyes.

A second or two passed, before she bolted up in bed and looked around the room.

There on the chair by her desk sat a shadowy figure.

She turned on her night light without taking her eyes of the shadow.

Her eyes widen in shock, when the room got lighten up and revealed the man sitting at her desk.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, clearly not happy.

"You are not doing yours for the cause." The man said instead of answering.

She looked at him confused. "Get out."

"You have to stop fooling around we need your … skills." The man continued, like he hadn't heard her.

She stood up, frustrated.

"What cause?" She asked angrily, but didn't raise her voice in fear that her mom would hear and come in. "The League of Shadows'?"

The man looked her up and down and then around the room. "Are you done playing school girl? You don't belong here, you belong with us."

"Oh, really?" She asked sarcastically and crossed her arms. "Get out."

He took the small container off her desk, where she had left it. "You haven't even opened it yet." He said, as he turned it around in his hands.

"You can take it with you," she said just wanting him to leave.

He put it down on the desk again. "You need it for what you have to do."

She signed frustrated. "I don't know what you want me to do, but I'm not doing it!"

"Oh, is that so?" He asked with a weird smile. "You have a role in this, and you will fulfill it."

She back away, unintentionally.

But he just stood there and looked at her.

"You'll see in time, that you don't have a choice in the matter. The League of Shadows needs your … talents and you will lend them to us, willing or not. You could say it's in your blood."

She just rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever you say, dad."

* * *

 **So ... do you buy the whole holding hands story?**

 **Please tell me what you think.**

 **I'll be back!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I had no homework today.**

 **So you get a chapter.**

* * *

"One week..."

"What?"

"One week till we have to turn in our project and we still have no idea about how to finish it."

"Yeah, right." Lia nodded and kept walking.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked and lean forward to get a better look at her.

She bit her lib. "My dad … came for a visit."

"And...?" Wally asked, knowing there was more.

She looked at him. "He and my mom talked, they … they're going to try and work it out."

"So," Wally said and picked up the pace, forcing Lia to do the same. "They're back together."

Lia just nodded.

"So … you want to come over for dinner?"

Lia smiled at him. "I can always count on you, can't I."

"That's what I'm here for."

She suddenly leaned her head on his shoulder.

Wally gave her a funny look, but kept walking.

"I feel like skipping today," her voice was just a whisper.

Wally tensed a bit.

Her voice sounded different from usual, and she had never leaned on him like that before.

Her dad had really shaken her up.

He took a deep breath and smiled, terrified about how _his_ dad would react.

"Then let's hang out in the science lab today, maybe we can actually figure out our project."

Lia smiled. "Really?"

He shrugged. "We can't always do the right thing, can we?"

For half a second Lia got a weird look in her eyes, but then she smiled.

* * *

"Is there something wrong?"

Artemis looked up at her up. "No … why?"

Her mother gave her a little smile. "You seem kind of distant … did something happen?"

Artemis swallowed another spoonful of cereal. "No."

"Nothing with Wally?" Her mother asked and took a sip of her coffee.

Artemis nearly drop her spoon.

Her mother could always tell what was wrong.

She signed. "Something weird happened with him yesterday, that's all."

"Weird?" Her mother asked from behind her coffee cup.

Artemis signed again. "He took me to meet one of his friends."

"A … female friend?"

Artemis just stirred her cereal with her spoon and nodded.

Paula nodded apparently happy with that response. She lifted the coffee cup to her mouth, but stopped halfway and looked at Artemis.

"Would you get me another cup of coffee?" She asked her.

* * *

"Lunch!" Wally proclaimed.

Lia smiled and sat down across from him.

"Is it even allowed to eat in the science lab?" She asked and bit into a sandwich.

"About as allowed as it is to skip class the entire day," Wally said and almost swallowed half his sandwich in one bite.

Lia smiled.

"So … how far are we?" She asked.

"Starch probably isn't going to work." Wally said and took a sip of his water.

Lia glared at him.

He swallowed. "So far that's the only thing we know..."

He took another bite.

"We have spent three hours in here," Lia signed.

"And amazingly no one have found us." Wally said and swallowed. "Hey, do you remember that soap experiment we made, when we were twelve?"

"When we made a piece of soap float in a bucket of water?" Lia asked, she sounded like she was giving up. "Yeah, wh … oh!" Her eyes widened and she smiled when she realized what he was getting at.

She looked at the stack of books, they had brought.

"Do you think there's something in there about what happens if it gets heated up?" She asked.

"We haven't even tried so … maybe. If we can't find it in the books we really need to find some xenothium to test it on."

Lia smiled. "Then let's get to work."

* * *

"Sorry I'm late!" He breathed as he speed into the cave.

"You seem to be a lot lately." Robin remarked. "Is something wrong?"

Wally shook his head, as he caught his breath. "No … just working on a school project."

He looked around. "Where's Arts?"

Robin nodded towards one of the couches.

Wally walked towards the couch.

Artemis just sat there, staring off into space with a blank expression, like she was deep in thought.

"Artemis...?" He asked silently.

She looked surprised up at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "It's just … meeting with Lia was..."

"Different?" Wally suggested. "Is that really what's wrong?"

She nodded.

"You sure there's nothing else wrong?" He pried.

She suddenly got up.

"Why is everyone so concerned about me today!" She yelled. "Why can't I just be a little worried about you hanging out with that..." She seemed lost for words. "That weird girl!"

Wally blinked and took a step back, shocked at her outburst.

Before he could say anything, she stormed off, and he was too shocked and confused to follow her.

* * *

"Hey," his mom said with a smile. "Dinner's ready."

"Thanks," he said, not really listening.

He sat down and stuck his fork in a potato.

Suddenly his dad came in and sat down across him.

"You weren't at school today." He stated, clearly not happy.

His eyes widen. He had completely forgotten all about that.

"Well..." He started and put a piece of potato in his mouth. "I _was_ in school, just not in class."

His dad narrowed his eyes at him.

His mom put her hand over his dad's to try and calm him down.

"I thought we had discussed this." His dad said disappointed.

Wally signed. "Lia was feeling down and I wanted to cheer her up."

His dad's expression didn't change.

"And we needed to finish our science project." He threw in for good measure.

"You could have done that after school." His dad just said.

Wally signed defeated. "One day of skipping school isn't going to make any difference."

"That's no excuse."

"Why not talk about something else?" His mom interrupted and turned to Wally. "I have been thinking about inviting Artemis and her family over for dinner one of these days."

Wally almost dropped his fork.

"I don't know," he said. "She seemed … off today, and besides … it's just her and her mom."

"Oh..." his mom said. "Well, when the two of you get this worked out, I would love to have her over."

Wally smiled.

"That reminds me … I thought you said that Lia would be coming over for dinner."

"Yeah, she said, her mom had called and wanted her to be home for dinner."

"She's such a sweet girl," his mom said with a smile.

"Yeah," he agreed.

* * *

She opened the door slowly, really not wanting any attention at the moment.

"You're late," her mom stated.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Why didn't you come home for dinner?"

"I had something I had to do." She said tired.

"Just … call next time, okay?" She said and took a sip from a coffee cup.

"Yeah," she said and put down her bag, and rubbed her eyes. "I already ate, is it okay if I go to bed?"

Her mom just nodded, but looked very concerned.

* * *

She threw herself on the bed not even bothering to turn on the lights.

Then she heard her phone beeping.

She looked at it, it was from Wally.

 _Are you okay?_ It said.

She smiled weakly.

Maybe … maybe she should tell him … about her dad...

She put the phone on her nightstand, and as she was laying back down something caught her eye.

The container on her desk, it was still where her dad had left it.

She got up from the bed and walked over to it.

She took the container and turned it around in her hands, looking for a way to open it.

She found a crack on one side and slit her thumbnails in it and tried to pull it open.

Suddenly it cracked open.

A sharp light shot out of the container, and she had to narrow her eyes to not get blinded.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think so far.**

 **I'll be going home to my parents for Easter, so I won't be updating for a week.**

 **But ... if you're patient I'll reveal the identity of the mysteries unknown female character, that keep popping up in every chapter next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I was lazy today.**

 **So you get a chapter.**

* * *

She closed the container again and just starred off into space for a moment.

Was that? No, it couldn't be... she thought and shook her head.

She looked down at the container.

But if it was...

She signed and put it down on desk and laid down on the bed.

She just wanted to go to bed now, it … it all seemed like so much at the moment.

Her phone buzzed.

It was Wally wishing her a good night.

She smiled. At least he could calm her mind and make her able to sleep

* * *

He stepped slowly into the kitchen.

"Your dad was called to work an hour ago." His mother said, while she was setting the table.

He signed relieved.

His mother smiled warmly and sat down across from him.

"He means well," she said.

"I know," he said and bit into a waffle. "If only he trusted me a little more."

"He does, Wally. He just wants best for you."

"I know..." he repeated with a sign.

His mother got up and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry, Wally. Everything is going to be fine." She said as she turned around to do the dishes.

Wally nodded and took another bit of his waffle. "That reminds me, I have to call Lia."

His mother turned around, as he shallowed.

"Sorry," he said, when he realized that he had talked with his mouth full.

She just nodded. "Didn't you call her last night?" She asked and turned back to the dishes.

He shook his head and bit his waffle.

"By the way..." She asked distantly. "Have you heard anything from that club of yours?"

He shallowed.

"The team?" He asked confused.

"No, that other club with that boy from Japan and … where was the girl from again?"

"Oh, that." He said, understanding what she meant. "I think our next meeting is in june, or somewhere around that time."

She nodded. "You better finish your breakfast, if you have to call Lia and catch her on the way to school, you have to get started."

He nodded and got up.

Then his phone made sound.

He looked at it, it was a text from Lia.

 _I have a big surprise!_ It said. _You're going to love it :)_

He let out a laugh. It seemed like she was okay.

* * *

"Hey Lia, wait!" He yelled.

She turned around and smile at him.

"So, what was the think you wanted to tell me about?" He asked, when he reached her.

They're hands locked together.

"The surprise?" She asked with a knowing smile. "Let's wait till lunch time in lab."

"Oh come on, just tell me." He said irritated.

She just shook her head smiling.

"Come on, a hint?" He said, trying to get something, anything out of her.

She shrugged. "It has something to do with our project."

"Great now I'll think about what it is for the next two hour till lunch, thank you very much." He said with a sign.

"You're welcome." She laughed.

There was silent for a moment.

"By the way," Wally then asked. "Have you heard anything from that email?"

She nodded with a serious expression. "He … it asked for a status update."

"I still don't get why anyone would ask two high schoolers for help with something like this, I mean do they want us to make them a weapon or something?"

Lia's smile turned sad. "Well … you're pretty smart." She said in a low voice.

He let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, we are the perfect team you and I."

She smiled up at him, only to see that he was staring down at his phone.

She looked down at it. "What are you doing?" She asked.

He looked at her. "Trying to call Artemis, she's been feeling down for a while, and … I wanted to check up on her today before school."

Lia looked down. "I … I might have something to do with … that."

Wally removed his arm from her shoulder and slipped his hand into hers again.

"What?" He asked.

"When we meet at the cafe the other day and me and her where sitting outside, while you got us drinks?" Wally nodded and she continued. "I … I kind of told her that … I like you..."

She looked up at her, scared about what he would say to that.

He looked at her for a second, but then smiled. "Don't worry Artemis doesn't get depressed over something like that."

She looked shocked for a second, with big eyes, but then she gave him a small smile.

"Really?" She said, but the smile didn't quite make it to her eyes. "That's good."

"So about this surprise," He said with a wry smile.

She put a hand in front of face. "Not going to happen Wally, wait until lunch."

He gave her a warm smile. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

* * *

Her phone went off again. It had been going off like that for last few minutes.

She threw her pillow after it.

The phone fell down on the floor.

She sat up in shock. What if something happened to it? It wasn't like her mother could buy her another one.

She got up and picked it up, then she saw the clock.

She had about half an hour until school started.

She was quickly found her uniform and began to put it on.

Why hadn't her mom woken her up? She always did that.

On another note why hadn't her alarm gone off? She thought, as she pulled up her kneehigh socks.

She still had her bag packed from the day before, so she just pulled it over her shoulder and went out into the living room, while trying to tie her hair.

"Mom!" She yelled. But her mom wasn't in the living room.

She went to her moms bedroom door. "Mom?" She said concerned as she opened the door.

Her mom was lying in her bed, fast asleep.

"Mom!" She said a little louder.

Her mom slowly opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"What is it?" She asked sleepy.

"I have to be in school in twenty minutes! Why didn't you wake me?" She said angrily.

Her mom looked at the clock on her nightstand like she was in a daze.

"Oh." She then suddenly exclaimed and looked at Artemis with a shocked and confused expression. "You don't have time for breakfast, just hurry to school, you can probably still make it."

Artemis signed and hurried to the door.

It wasn't like she didn't know that! But what had her mom been doing, if she was still in bed? She wondered as she closed the front door behind her.

"Hey," Said the neighbor from across the hall with a smile.

"Hey David," she said and was about to walk down the hall.

"Hold it young lady." The neighbor said and held up a hand to stop. "I can't let you go anywhere with that tie."

She looked down at the very loose tie hanging around her neck.

David undid the tie and started tying it the right way.

"You have to learn how to do this right young lady, it's good to look your best, when your going to Gotham Academy." He said the last part in a dramatic voice.

"You have to stop calling me little lady, you're not that older than me."

"Five years," he remained her and tighten her tie. "All done. You want a ride to school?"

"A young lady being dropped off by a dark-haired, tattooed, nose-pierced twenty-year-old on a motorcycle?" She asked and he snorted at her. "As long as you drop me off a block from school."

* * *

"Lunch." Wally exclaimed as they entered the science lab.

"So..." he looked at Lia knowingly. "What's the surprise?"

"Okay..." she said slowly and pulled something out of her bag. "Look at this." She showed him a small red cylinder."

Wally narrowed his eyes and came closer. "What is it?"

"Xenothium," she said with a smile.

"What? How did you get that?" He asked.

"I found it in my room," she said a little distraught. "But … I mean we can still, like use it for our experiment, right?"

"Lia … we really shouldn't … these people that want … whatever they want with this." He gestured to the xenothium. "They aren't the good guys, they can't be."

"We might as well test our theory, right?" She asked with a smile.

Wally signed. "We are going to get in so much trouble for this," he said and ran his finger through his hair.

Her smiled widen.

Wally put on gloves, opened the cylinder and dripped a few drops onto a petri dish and put it in the microwave.

Lia turned it on.

She signed. "With this, we can finish our project."

"Yeah," he said clearly uneasy. "I'm going to get some lunch, do you want something."

"You mean to tell you don't have my lunch memorized? Even though I get the same thing every day?" She said in fake shock and horror.

"I'm going, I'm going." He laughed and backed out of the room.

She smiled at the door after he closed.

"You seem to be making progress?"

She turned around and starred at the man dressed from head to toe in black, he looked like a ninja. No, he was a ninja.

"What are you doing here?" She asked and backed away in horror.

"You didn't report any progress, I had to come see how is was going?" He said, she couldn't see his face, but she knew he was smiling.

She clenched her teeth, but before she could say anything he nodded to the door.

"He's useful, keep him on the project as long as you can."

She signed. So tired of him.

"Yeah, yeah, just get out! Before he comes back."

"You forgot this at home," the man said and threw her the container, she had taken the xenothium out off this morning.

"See you at dinner," he said and walked to a broom closet.

She signed. "Yes, dad..."

* * *

 **Please tell me what you think.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm stressed.**

 **But you still get a chapter.**

* * *

"Wally come quick!" He heard from the science lab.

He managed to balance the tray of food, while running towards the door.

He barged into the lab, where Lia was just standing by the microwave.

"What is it?" He asked confused. He thought, she was in some kind of danger.

She opened the microwave.

"Look at this," she said, showing him the petri dish.

The red substance had gotten thicker and seemed to have more volume.

They looked at each other.

"What do we do now?" Lia asked.

Wally put the tray of food down slowly and took the petri dish. He pulled on a gloved and slowly dipped a gloved finger in the xenothium. Not knowing what would happen.

The substance stuck to his glove.

He pulled his hand up the xenothium stretched, but never let go of the glove.

"Interesting." He said and held his hand up as high as he could, while Lia tried to cut the xenothium with a pair of scissors.

She managed to cut it, but then the scissors were stuck to it.

Wally rubbed his thin, while Lia held on to the edge of the scissors in horror that the xenothium would attach to her skin.

"Hold it up as high as you can, I'm going to try something." He said.

He went to a cabinet and found some dry ice. He put on a new pair gloves on and held the dry ice to the xenothium with a pair of tongs.

The substance turned stiff, and Lia managed to jerk the scissors loose. Though there was still some xenothium left on them.

"Try to get it off with a knife," Wally said and put away the dry ice.

"Well..." Lia said as she tried to clean the scissors. "Heat make it sticky and stretchy."

"Stretchy isn't a word." Wally interrupted, while he wrote down what she said in a notebook.

"What about the dry ice?" She asked.

Wally knocked on the stiff xenothium with a gloved finger. It sounded like he was knocking on cold steel.

They looked at each other, intrigued.

Wally took hold of where the scissors had been stuck in it before, and pulled at it as hard as he could. It didn't budge.

"Cold makes it harder and stronger." He noted and wrote it down in the notebook.

Lia nodded deep in thought. "What do me do now?"

"First we should try to find a way to expose of this glove without anyone ever finding it, and then..." He said.

"And then?" Lia asked, for a second she was scarred he would back out of the experiment.

"Then we need to cool it down and slowly heat it up to see where the change in substance happens." He finished with a smile.

"Roger," she said and saluted him.

* * *

The man walked into the dark room, his footsteps echoed through the room.

"Progress?" The man sitting in the light asked.

"She is beginning experimental phase, Master." He said and bowed his head.

The man in the light rubbed his chin. "She is working rather slowly," he commented.

"I'm aware, and have already gone to remind her of the importance of this project." The man in the shadows said and bowed his head even lower in shame.

The man sitting in the light nodded with distant eyes. "I have faith that your daughter can do this, but she needs the best facilities to make it a success, and with the pace she is working it will take to long."

"What do you suggest?" The shadow asked.

The man in the light looked down, deep in thought, then looked up. "Bring her and the xenothium here, I'll make sure she gets everything she needs."

"There … there is a problem..." the man in the shadow said a little uneasy.

"Oh? What?" The man in the light asked, clearly intrigued.

"She … she has a lab partner helping her."

* * *

"So we're not getting a mission today?" Wally asked.

Artemis didn't look up from her textbook, she didn't even blink. "No," she said and turned the page.

"Arts, you not mad at me, are you?" He asked and put his arm around her.

She looked up from her book and smiled. "No, why?" She asked.

Wally smiled at her with a raised eyebrow. "You asked me to help you study, usually I have to bribe you just to pick up a book."

She looked up at him with eyes widen by surprise.

"How do you..." she couldn't finish the sentence.

He smiled at her gently and touch her cheek. "I just know you."

She just looked him, still shocked.

He kissed her.

She leaned into him and put her hand on the back of his neck, letting the book fall to the floor.

After a few seconds he broke of the kiss.

"So what's wrong?" He asked.

Artemis signed and shook her head. "It's just … my mom's acting strange."

"Strange how?"

"She..." she had an odd expression, like she didn't know how to explain it. "She overslept ..."

"And that's strange?" Wally asked carefully. After all Artemis had been really angry lately.

She looked at him with a serious expression. "She has always gotten up at dawn, ever since I was a little kid."

Wally was about to answered, when his phone went off.

* * *

"So..." she asked. "Your place or mine?"

"How about mine, I don't want to run into your dad." He said with a smile.

She nodded. "Your place it is," she said and began swinging their linked hands back and forth.

"Why did you want to continue the project so late? I thought, we agreed to wait until tomorrow." He asked.

She looked at him with a knowing smile. "You were with Artemis, weren't you?" She just said.

He broke eye contact, a little uncomfortable with the tone that she had used.

He signed and tried to think of something else to talk about. He didn't know why, but it didn't seem right to talk about Artemis with Lia, or vice versa.

"Where did you meet her?" Lia suddenly asked.

Wally raised an eyebrow in shock. "I … I meet her in an afterschool activity." He said, hopefully not to fast.

"Like the afterschool activity you have with the Egyptian girl and that Japanese geek, mister genius?" She asked and blinked innocently.

"Yeah … no," he shook head with a smile.

"Yeah," she said and looked ahead. "She didn't really strike me as a superiorly genius person."

"I'm not a superior genius," he just said.

"Well, you the smartest person I know." She smiled.

"In our school that's not a hard thing to achieve." Wally said and Lia let out a laugh.

They walked silence for a while.

"It's still really dark in the evening," Lia commented in a low voice.

"Yeah..." Wally said and looked up at the dark sky.

Suddenly there was an odd sound, like ruffling of leaves or a sharp wind blowing by.

Wally stopped, and so did Lia.

"What was that?" He asked her.

She turned her head slowly. She had clearly heard it too.

As the two of them looked behind them, they heard the sound again. They looked ahead and saw a group of people, dressed in black from head to toe, standing in a half circle around them and watched them in silence. A girl, or rather a young woman, appeared among them. Unlike the rest she was wearing a mask, a smiling cat mask.

Wally recognized her because of that mask, it was Cheshire.

Both Wally and Lia took a step back.

"Are you thinking, what I'm thinking?" Wally asked Lia.

"That this whole holding hands thing, doesn't work?" She asked, and lifted their intertwined hands.

"Well, that too. But I was thinking something like running." As soon as he said it, they both turned around.

But there was standing a wall of darkly dressed people too.

Wally looked at Lia. "What now?"

"We could try to bore them to death," Lia offered.

"With what?" Wally asked, confused of how calm she was.

"Quantum physics," she just said.

One of the men stepped forward and took hold of Wally arm. He was so confused about the whole situation, he didn't know what to do. Had they found out his true identity?

* * *

 **Tell me what you think.  
**

 **Did you know Lia was the mystery girl?**

 **I have this feeling the story is losing it's steam.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I have exams soon so my updates are maybe not going to be weekly for the next couple of months**

 **But now you get a chapter**

* * *

She clicked on his number again and it went straight to voicemail.

She almost growled at her phone and tried to push his number in, but again it went to voicemail.

Where was he? She thought, before another thought hit her. Was he with Lia?

Suddenly her phone went off.

She took it before even looking at the screen.

"Artemis?" Wally's mother asked.

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why would his mother call her?

"Yes..." She said slowly.

"Is Wally there? He's missed dinner." His mom asked clearly worried.

Artemis blinked confused and sat up in bed.

"No ... he's not here, I haven't seen him since this afternoon in the cave." She said and tried to think about where he could have gone.

Wally's mother made a nervous sound through the phone. "He was supposed to work on some kind of project with Lia and then call us about whether they ate here or at Lia's house."

"Have you tried to call Lia?" Artemis asked, trying to the anger out of her voice. Had he just been at her place this whole time.

"Yes..." Wally's mother didn't seem to calm down. "She's not answering her phone either, and her mother said they didn't come home for dinner."

Her eyes widen in shock. "Well …" she said and scratched her ear. "Maybe they just found … something … and forgot about the time."

There was silent on the other end for almost a minute, before the woman said something.

"Yeah..." she said clearly not convinced. "Maybe your right … I'll … I'll wait until tomorrow and see if he comes home … sorry for bothering you."

"That's okay," Artemis said. "Will you keep me updated."

"Of course dear." His mother said and broke off the connection.

She signed and fell back on the bed.

A hundred thoughts raced through her mind. She was actually hoping he was with Lia right now, at least then she knew he'd be coming back.

But then again … what would anyone want with Wally

* * *

His head hurt.

He felt on his aching head and slowly opened his eyes.

Lia was leaned up against him, she looked unconscious.

They both sat up against a wall, in a room that only had a door with a hole in it, where light flooded in from.

He took hold of Lia's shoulder and shook her lightly, while whispering that she had to wake up.

Slowly she came too.

She rubbed her forehead and looked around with heavy eyes.

"Where are we?" She asked, still tired.

"I don't know," he said and felt on the back of his head, when he felt a sharp pain.

"You okay?" Lia asked and reached out for him.

"Yeah..." he breathed. "Just hurts where they hit me."

"Oh yeah..." Lia said. "They hit you."

"What happen after that?" He asked.

Lia felt on her own head. "They said, that we have something, they needed and … and then … they said, that if I came quietly I wouldn't get hurt..."

Wally smile. "You didn't, did you?"

She mirrored his smile and shook her head.

"Okay..." Wally said and ran a hand through his hair. "Who were they and why did they kidnap us."

"Yeah..." Lia said and rubbed the back of her neck. "It's not like our families have money or anything … well at least mine don't. "

Wally looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Never mind," She then said. "What do you think they were talking about, when they said, we have something they needed?"

Wally thought about for a second, but then it all clicked in his mind.

"The xenothium, they were the ones sending you those emails!"

Before Lia could chime in, the door flew up.

And there stood Cheshire, dressed as she usually was, and blocked the light that flooded the room.

"That's right." She said with a smile, like she had heard their whole conversation.

Wally and Lia looked at each other and then back at her.

"Were you standing outside the door this whole time waiting for us to wake up and figure that out." Lia asked and tried hard not to laugh.

"What?" The woman with the Cheshire asked, even through her mask they could both see she was taken aback.

Wally let out a laugh, and Lia giggled silently.

"You find amusement in this?"

They both looked up in shock.

Behind Cheshire Ras al Ghul had appeared.

Wally straightened his back, very suspicious about what was going on.

Lia swallowed loudly.

She opened her mouth, but didn't said anything. She did that a few times before something came out. "... what is it had you want from us."

Cheshire stepped aside and Ras al Ghul stepped into the room.

"What I want, my dear, is for you two to help me." He said very calm with a smile.

"With what exactly?" Wally asked.

Ras al Ghul looked at him, clearly intrigued by his presence.

"I sent you some xenothium, didn't I?" He said and clasped his hands behind his back. "I had been informed, that you two could stabilize it, perhaps even weaponize it."

Lia opened her mouth, but Wally shook his head and looked up at Ras al Ghul.

"Can I have ask a question?" He asked, for a moment sounding more like a student in a classroom than a hostage.

The older man raised an eyebrow, looking somehow amused, and nodded. "Go ahead."

"Why us?" He asked and then corrected himself. "Why Lia? Why ask teenagers, when you could get someone with more experience? Who would probably do it willing."

Ras al Ghul got a strange smile, like he knew something Wally didn't. "Why ask something of someone who needs persuasion, when I already have someone with the necessary abilities at my disposal?"

Wally looked at him confused. "That's … cryptic."

The older man looked at Lia.

She just returned her stare, without even blinking.

Ras al Ghul smile and turned his back to them.

"Someone will come to collect you in a few hours, I suggest you get some rest before that." He said and left.

Cheshire left in silence and closed the door behind her.

* * *

She sat down by the phone.

She hadn't heard anything from her daughter, or Wally for that matter, and that worried her.

Mary had called her, they weren't at their house either.

Where could they be? They hadn't gone of like that since they were five years old.

Suddenly the front door opened, and she practically flew out of the chair.

"Lia!" She yelled out into the hallway.

Instead her ex-husband was standing in the doorway.

He had an oddly calm expression on his face.

"Do you know where Lia is?" She asked franticly.

Instead of answering he stepped inside and took of his shoes.

"What's for dinner?" he then asked.

She looked at him confused, but ignored his question.

"Lia hasn't been home since this afternoon!" She explained. "And Wally's mom called me, they're not there either!"

"Wally?" Her husband asked, calm but confused.

She shook her head. Not understanding why, he was acting this way. "He's her best friend. They have been together since they were small!"

"Really?" He asked, as he walked past her and into the kitchen.

"What is wrong with you? Your daughter is missing!" She yelled after him, as she followed him.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and looked up at her.

"No, she's not." He just said.

She blinked in shock.

"Do you know where she is?" She asked and followed him into the living room, she had been sitting in earlier.

He sat down on the couch and patted on the spot beside him, while taking a sip of his coffee.

She sat down beside him and waited for an answer.

He removed the cup from his lips and look her straight in the eyes.

"Yes … I know."

* * *

 **So ... what do you think?**

 **I'm a little insecure about my writing**


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't know about this chapter.**

 **If you don't like it, I'll remake it.**

* * *

"Wally's gone?" Robin asked in disbelief.

"Yeah..." Artemis said, while trying to catch her breath. She had come as fast as she could after school.

"Then … shouldn't we go look for him?" They heard Superboy ask from across the room.

"How long have … you been there?" Artemis asked.

Superboy put his backpack down. "Just came."

She nodded. "Where's M'gann and Kaldor?"

"M'gann is at … cheerleading practice and Kaldor … I think he's here somewhere..." He said, but didn't sound sure.

"Okay..." Robin said. "Let's see if we can find him, and then we go look for Wally."

"No." It came from behind Artemis.

She turned around, and there stood Batman.

"What?"

"You'll stay here." Batman just said.

"But Wally..." Robin started.

"Flash is searching for him at this moment." Batman said, very stern.

"But..." Artemis objected, but were cut off by Batman.

"I can see that you won't be able to concentrate, so you won't be sent on a mission today." He just said and turned away.

The three of them looked at each other, not being able to talk through a mind-link, they just starred at each other with confused and angry eyes.

Then Kaldor came in.

He looked at the others confused and then look at Batman, as he walked away, then looked at his friends again.

"What is going on? Wasn't he going to brief us on a new mission?" He then asked.

"Wally's missing," Superboy just said.

Kaldor turned to him. "Missing, was he kidnapped?"

"We don't know," Artemis said in a quiet voice and rubbed her arm. "His mother said, that he didn't come home yesterday, and no one have apparently heard from him, or his lab partner since then."

Kaldor looked in the direction, where Batman had disappeared. "He didn't want us to look for him?"

"No," Robin shook his head.

"And why should we listen to him?" Superboy asked.

Kaldor looked like he was thinking about it, very hard.

Finally he signed.

"I agree with Superboy." He said.

* * *

"So..." Wally started.

They had been escorted into another room, where Ra's al Ghul was waiting for them.

"You want us to make Xenothium into a weapon?" Lia then asked, it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Yes," Ra's al Ghul said.

"Then..." she looked down at the ground, and then up at Ra's al Ghul. "What do we get out of it?"

"Lia?" Wally said shocked.

She turned to him and took his hand.

"Think about it, what would we get if we turned in the paper at school?" She asked.

"Well, we would get an A," he said, not liking how willing she was to help Ra's al Ghul.

"Think about it, if we do this right. We can get a lot of money from this!"

Ra's al Ghul seemed intrigued by what she said.

Wally shook his head, really not understanding what was going on with Lia.

"Come on Wally, isn't this what we want to do one day? To sell our experiments for a lot of money." Lia said with a strained smile.

Wally took hold of her shoulders and looked her straight in eye.

"Lia." He said. "These people are not nice people, if we help them, they are going to use it to hurt others!"

"I can understand your hesitation, Mister West." Ra's al Ghul said. "But if you know that I am a … bad person … then you should also know, what I can do, if you choose not to cooperation."

Wally swallowed. He couldn't use his powers, that wouldn't help anything right now, but he shouldn't show fear either.

"That doesn't really scare me." He said and looked directly at him.

Suddenly Ra's al Ghul stepped towards him.

"You would do best not to test my patience, boy!" He said in a low, dangerous voice and leaned forward. Then he suddenly straightens his back and spoke in a lighter tone. "But I can assure you, that what you are doing, will help the greater good in the end."

"Forgive me, if I don't believe that." Wally said unimpressed.

Lia took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze.

He glanced at her. She slowly shook her head, clearly not liking where this was going.

"Wally..." her voice was nothing but a whisper. "Please...!"

She sounded like a little girl, fragile and scared.

He swallowed and looked at Ra's al Ghul. He was just standing there, like he was waiting for him to agree.

He opened his mouth and said the first thing that came to mind: "What about school? What about our families?"

Ra's al Ghul didn't even blink. "You are going to stay here, until you have finished what you started, as soon as it is up to my standards, you can go."

Wally signed. There really wasn't any way around this.

He looked at Lia, she gave him a weak smile, then he looked at Ra's al Ghul and signed again.

"We are going to need a lot of money for this." He said.

Ra's al Ghul smiled and nodded. "Name your price."

* * *

Ra's al Ghul watched as the two teenagers were lead away.

"How did it go?" a shadow asked behind him.

Ra's al Ghul turned around. "Your daughter was willing, but her … partner needed convincing."

The shadow lowered his head. "I apologize, master, I know how … troublesome, that boy can be."

"I convinced him." Ra's al Ghul just said. "I hope he is as smart as you say, he could be very useful for the time that's coming."

The shadow glanced up at him. "I would not be to sure, master. This … child … is only interested in doing what he perceives as the right thing."

Ra's al Ghul frowned. "You should not concern yourself with my plans, but you should know that I can be very persuasive."

The shadow lowered his head even further. "I apologize, master. I did not mean to insult you."

Ra's al Ghul and turned his back on the shadow.

"If those two children are as wise as I have been told, they could become very useful servants."

The shadow nodded.

"We must prepare for the future the light is planning for. Though I still question whether turning this project over to two school children was for the best." Ra's al Ghul said, mostly to himself, and the shadow didn't answer.

* * *

The doorbell rang and she hurried to the door.

It could be Wally.

Instead it was Lia's mother, standing outside in the dark.

"Clara?" Wally's mother said and opened the door wider. "Are you okay?"

Lia's mother looked uneasy. "Can I come in?" She asked with a voice that shook.

Mary smiled comforting and nodded. "Of course." She said and stepped to the side and let her in.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked, as she led her to the living room.

"Yes," she nodded with a weak voice.

Mary went out to kitchen and turned the kettle on and then got back the living room.

She sat down beside Clara, who still seemed very, very nervous.

"It's about Wally and Lia, isn't it?" She asked carefully.

Clara nodded silently.

She put a hand on Clara's arm and gave it a light squeeze. "Don't worry, they'll come back soon, Rudy is working overtime to find them."

"Yes..." Lia's mother said, she didn't sound convinced.

The kettle went off and Mary went to the kitchen to prepare the tea.

Clara curled up into a ball on the couch and weaved and unweaved her fingers over and over again.

She wanted to tell Mary that her ex-husband knew where they were, he hadn't told her where, but he had told her that he knew, but she didn't know how to go about it.

But Wally was their son, and … they deserved to know … but...

Mary came back with two cups of tea.

"No, sugar, right?" She asked and handed her one of the cups.

"Right." She nodded and took a sip of it.

They sat in silence for a moment, but then Lia's mother took a deep breath.

"It's about my husband," she blurted out.

Wally's mother took a sip of her tea and raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were divorced."

Clara looked down. "We got back together a few days ago."

Mary put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't seem happy."

Clara shook her head. "I really love him, you know. And I want Lia to have a father figure, but..."

Mary didn't say anything, but just waited for her to finish her sentence.

"His work … it's what..." her voice shook and she couldn't finish.

Mary's eyes widen. "Do you think your … husband have something to do with Lia and Wally?"

Clara nodded, while keeping her head down.

Mary placed her cup on the coffee table and placed her hands on Clara's.

"Clara … why would you think that?" She asked.

She looked up at her friend and neighbor. "He told me, he knows where they are."

She looked like she was about to cry.

"What?" Mary asked confused, almost standing up in shock. "When?"

"Yesterday, when he came home, after they had gone missing. He was just so calm, and after..." She swallowed something. "After I yelled at him that his daughter was missing, he just said she wasn't and admitted that he knew where Lia was at least."

"We should contact the police," Mary said and began to stand up.

"Please don't!" Clara said franticly and held onto Mary's hands. "Trust me. I'm sure that they are okay, it probably has something to do with his job."

Mary looked at the clearly shaken and terrified woman on her couch with confusion. "What do you mean it has something to do with your husband's work? If that's true then why wouldn't they call us?"

Clara looked down, but didn't let go of Mary's hand.

"I … I can't tell you. I'll put my family in danger … he's not supposed to have a family, but..."

Mary sat down slowly beside her again, trying to stay calm.

"Clara … I don't understand, but I can understand trying to protect your family. But their our children, whatever your ex-husband is involved in, it's putting them in danger..." She said trying to comfort her.

Suddenly Clara leaned forward and hugged Mary.

Mary hugged her back. She could clearly feel that Lia's mother was troubled.

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

Mary went to the door and opened it.

Outside the door stood a tall, darkly dressed man.

"Is Clara here?" He just asked.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think.**

 **I'm really stressed out and would like to hear something good.**


	11. Chapter 11

**My exams starts soon.**

 **So enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

She took a step back, unwillingly.

"Yes," she said, without breaking eyecontact with the tall man.

"Who's at the door?" Clara asked, as she walked to the door.

Mary looked over her shoulder at Clara, who's eyes grew bigger when she saw the man in the doorway.

"Oh," was all she said at first. "I … hmm..."

"You weren't at home, so I thought you might be here." The man just said.

"Yes..." Lia's mother smiled. "I'm coming home now, dear."

Then she hugged Wally's mother, thanked her for the tea and walked past her out the door and walked hand in hand with the man.

Wally's mother stood in the doorway, stunned, and looked on as her neighbor left with a man, she wasn't really sure was Clara's ex-husband.

* * *

"Don't be mad," Lia said.

He just glared at her and looked through their notes.

Lia signed loudly and looked around the room to be sure there wasn't anyone around.

"Look Wally." she whispered. "I know that this isn't our ideal situation, but think about. We have a scientific mystery and unlimited resources to solve it."

"And a boss that's going to use our discoveries to do anything from putting someone in the hospital to mass murder." He said angrily.

That made Lia cringe. "Yes," she said. "But you agreed..."

Wally shook his head and dipped a long wooden stick in the xenothium.

"What was I suppose to do?" he asked and pulled the stick out.

Lia signed and took a stick of her own.

"Nothing … Look can we at least appreciate that we're here together?" She asked, as Wally started walking backwards stretching the xenothium as far as he could.

Wally smiled. "Yeah, you are by far the best person to be kidnapped with."

Lia giggled. "How many times, before this, have you been kidnapped?"

Wally smiled wryly.

"You apparently can appreciate how handsome this face is," He said and gestured to his face and pulled at the xenothium a little more. "Do you have the blowtorch ready?"

Lia waved it at him and nodded.

"Then … commence!" He said in a deep, serious voice that made Lia laugh as she nodded.

She put the wooden stick on top of the stretched-out xenothium and made a circular motion with the stick, wrapping the sticky xenothium around it. When she had done that about five times, she stopped and took the blowtorch.

"How high do you think I should go up?" She asked as she tried to keep her hand, holding the stick, still.

Wally rubbed his chin for a second. "Go up as high as it can, remember we have to find some way to separate it into smaller parts, so this part is an experiment in itself."

Lia nodded and turned on the small blowtorch. It spewed a small blue flame and she held it to the xenothium, while trying to keep her other hand still.

The xenothium the flame touched began to boil and stretch, but it did not separate from the xenothium they had stretched out between the two sticks.

Lia looked at Wally, uneasy.

"What if this doesn't work?" She asked, her voice trembling.

He smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry Lia, it's not like anything is going to happen to you. If this doesn't work, we'll just try something else."

Lia nodded and looked down at the blowtorch again. The xenothium still hadn't separate from the rest.

She hissed annoyed and looked at Wally with angry eyes. "What do we do now?"

Wally just smiled and pointed to the table, where they had placed very thin paper before they began.

Lia rolled her eyes and they placed the wooden sticks on the paper, making sure the xenothium was inside the paper.

"Let's get the dry ice, it seems like that's the only way to cut it, is to freeze it solid and break it apart.

Lia signed. "It irritates me, that we can't find an easier way to do it."

Wally just shrugged and found some dry ice.

While Wally froze the xenothium, Lia found a hammer and an ice pick.

Then Wally removed the dry ice, and Lia placed the ice pick on the solid xenothium and gently hit it with the hammer, until the ice pick went through the xenothium.

Wally signed relieved. "Well, at least that's over let's continue with the initial experiment."

They each grabbed an end of the paper and very slowly and carefully they made their way to another table, where they placed the paper on a long, rectangle formed, glass box lid.

They then slowly placed the glass box, with several tubes attached, on top of the lid, sealing it.

"Okay..." Lia signed. "Now all we need is to slowly turn on the cold, so it freezes slowly.

"Yes," Wally nodded. "We should do it one or two degrees at a time in ten minutes intervals.

Lia looked at him with a wry smile.

He raised his eyebrow.

"Then what should we do in the meantime?"

* * *

"Ohmm … can I ask a question?"

"Of course," Robin said with a smile.

"I understand why you're here, because you're his best friend, but … why is Connor here?" She whispered the last part.

"I stayed here once for a few days." Connor said behind her.

Artemis looked over her shoulder, but Connor didn't look angry or offended, he just looked at the door in front of him.

"Well," Robin said making Artemis look forward. "Let's get to it."

And he rang the doorbell.

Wally's mother answered.

For a second she seemed confused, but then smiled at them.

"Artemis..." She said, probably because she was the only, she knew the real name of. She looked down and up again. "Wally still haven't come home."

"Yes … we know, we just wanted to make sure you were okay." Robin said.

She smiled and took a step back. "Come in," she said. "I've some coffee."

They looked at each other and nodded.

* * *

They stepped into the living room and all sat down on the couch.

Wally's mother came in with the coffee and sat down in the chair opposite them.

"When … when did you know Wally was..." Robin didn't know how to say it.

Wally's mother gave him a sad smile and looked down.

"The day before yesterday, he said he went to school in the afternoon with Lia to finish a science project, they were going to call me about where they were eating dinner." She said. "When he didn't call, I thought they were at Lia's place and just forgot to call, but when it got late I called Lia's mother, but she hadn't seen them either."

"Hmm..." it came from Robin, as he rubbed his chin. "Where does Lia live?"

"One house down..." she said and pointed to the left. "Look … her mother is very worried, so … please don't go over there and question her, okay?"

Connor opened his mouth to protest, but Robin stopped him with a hand.

"Okay," he said gently.

Then Wally's mother looked at Artemis. "I wouldn't worry about Wally my dear, he'll turn up sooner or later."

Artemis smiled sadly.

She was about to say something, but stopped herself.

"Nothing weird happening in the last few days, did it?" Robin asked carefully.

Wally's mother gave him a gentle smile and shook her head. "Wally was Wally, he went to school, to meet you, talked to Lia and came home no later than dinner."

"Can we see his room?" Robin went on.

Wally's mother gave him a stern look.

"I know you are trying to help, but it is best to leave this to the police."

Superboy raised an eyebrow at her. Not understanding why she wouldn't want their help.

Robin just nodded. "We understand."

There was a few moments of silence, as the woman drank her coffee.

"Well..." Artemis said, feeling uncomfortable. "We should go."

Robin made a quick nod and they got up, thanked Wally's mother for the coffee, they hadn't touched, and left.

* * *

"What do we do now?" Superboy asked as soon as the door closed behind them.

"I say, we pay Lia's family a visit." Artemis said, a little too eager.

"You hear her," Robin said and nodded towards Wally's house. "She didn't want us to question Lia's family."

"Who says we'll question them?" She asked with an evil gleam in her eye.

* * *

"Lia!" He shook her from her sleep.

"What?" She said sleepy and looked around.

Had she fallen asleep on a chair?

"The xenothium it's changed." Wally said very fast.

"What?" She repeated, a little louder this time and stood up and followed Wally to the glass box.

"Look." He said and removed the top.

Lia's eyes widened when she saw it and, in shock and without thinking, she reached in and touched it.

"How does it feel?" Wally asked.

Lia looked upwards and ran her fingers across it.

"Soft and … leathery." She said like she considered it a lot.

Wally noted that down and nodded to himself. "Let's get it out on the table."

Lia took hold of the paper,Wally removed the the glass lid and Lia placed the xenothium down on the table again.

Wally looked at it, while rubbing his chin. "Can you get me a knife?" He asked without taking his eyes off it.

Lia just nodded and got a knife from a drawer, it wasn't sharp, actually it was more like butterknife.

"This was all I could find," she said and handed him the knife.

Wally looked at the knife with suspicion, but tried to cut the xenothium nonetheless.

And to both of their surprise the knife went right through and the xenothium were cut in two.

They looked at each other.

"We just had a breakthrough, didn't we?" Wally asked.

Lia nodded smilling. "Indeed we did."

"So when it's cooled to -25 degrees, it almost becomes fabric-like, write that down."

"Already done." Wally said. "At least no we found a way to cut it into pieces without using a hammer."

"Yeah..." Lia said. "But how do we turn this into a weapon."

Wally thought about it for a minute. "Well … if we can get it to cool down even further … if for an example it's worn as some kind of clothing … theoretically it could turn into an amour."

Lia nodded eagerly.

Suddenly the door opened.

They both turned to the shadow standing in the doorway.

"The master wants to see you." It said.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think :)**

 **My exams are the last week in May and the entire month June, so ... we'll see about the next couple of chapters.**

 **By the way for future chapters: If Count Vertigo had a son, what kind father would he be? Caring or Abusive? I can't decide.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I passed my first exam, so you get a chapter :)**

 **The next chapter will come in between 2 weeks and a month from now.**

* * *

"When you said you wanted to see me, I didn't think it was for dinner." Lia said and poked at the fish with her fork.

Ra's al Ghul smiled at her.

"You know my dear," he said and took a sip of his wine. "You could go really fare, beyond just being a shadow."

Lia froze.

"I don't want to be here, period."

Ra's al Ghul just raised an eyebrow at the interruption and continued.

"It is a honor in itself, that I've assigned an important project to you." He said. "That I dine with you show that I trust you."

"I don't want your trust." She interrupted again.

"I want to know about your progress." He said.

Lia shook her head. "We have no idea how to make a weapon, what progress are we suppose to be making?"

Ra's al Ghul narrowed his eyes at her.

She sign and let go of her fork. "We have found a way to get it to change substance from liquid to hard matter, to … a fabric-like-substance, but we have no idea what to use that information for!"

The man smiled at her. "I'm sure you'll figure that part out … now tell me about that lab partner of ours."

* * *

"Miss Martian, how are things on your end?" Robin said through a com-link.

 _All clear, they won't hear a thing..._ she said through the mind-link.

"Good," Artemis said out loud. "Let's get started."

Robin pried the window open and slipped through it, Artemis followed him.

They looked around.

It looked like a typical teenage girl's room. a bed, a desk, a closet, the walls dekorated with posters.

"Maybe, it's the wrong room to start in." Artemis said.

"We're going to look through all of them anyways." Robin said and opened the computer on the desk.

Artemis nodded silently and opened the closet.

The clothes were all brightly colored and very girly. Was that the type of clothes Wally liked?

She pushed all the jackets and shirts aside and saw something shinny at the bottom of the closet.

She bend down into the closet and tried to take hold of it, but whatever it was pricked her finger.

"Ouch!" She yelled and pulled back her hand, but the quick motion caused her to lose her balance and fall into the closet.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked. He had turn away from the computer, to see what she was doing.

"Yeah," she said. "I managed to catch myself on the back of the..."

"Good." Robin just said. "Man, there's nothing here, other than homework, emails, pictures, everything seems normal, maybe you were right, this probably wasn't the right place to start."

Artemis didn't hear him. She knocked lightly on the back of the closet.

It was hollow.

She felt all the way down the sides and suddenly the back of the closet glided to the side revealed a hidden room behind it.

"Wow," she just said.

"Did you find something?" Robin asked, as he turned around in the chair again.

"You can say that again," she said, a bit shocked, and pulled out a bo-staff and a black costume.

"Look at this."

Robin got up from the desk. "That looks like..."

"The league of Shadows!" They said in unison.

Robin felt the costume.

"Why would a teenage girl have something like this?" Artemis asked.

"You don't think..." Robin started.

"No." Artemis cut him off. "That's impossible, Wally would have known. Besides I don't have anything like this."

"But what if she's a … shadow?" Robin asked.

Artemis was just about to deny it, when the computer peeped.

Robin went to it and clicked on a few buttons.

"What is it?" Artemis asked and looked over his shoulder at the computer.

"It looks like someone contacted her about an experimental substance called Xenothium. Who ever they were, they seem to think that she knew how to stabilize it." Robin explained.

"Don't know, she never replied on any of the emails, they seemed to have kept writing to her in hopes of a response. But … she's done a great deal of research on it." He said, as he opened multiple windows."

"You think that has something to do with why they're missing?" She asked.

"Only one way to find out," he said with a smile and plugged in a USB key. "We have to find who ever sent the emails."

* * *

"Wally," she breathed, as she came through the door. But froze in confusion, when she saw him. "What are you doing?"

Wally turned around with a smile. "Just playing with an idea. How was dinner?"

She signed. "Odd, very odd."

"Did you ask him, why wants us to do this?" He asked and pour some xenothium from one test tube into another.

"Yes," she answered and stepped closer.

"And what did he said?" He said and spun some thin, metal string between his hands, very concentrated.

"He was … adamant, that we would know how to make a weapon out of our findings … and then he asked about you."

"About me?" He asked and looked at her over his shoulder.

"Yeah," she said.

"What did you say?" He asked and bended the metal strings into a little weird figure, and gently stuck it in the test tube and wrapped a metal string around the outside to hold it in place.

"That you were smart..." she said slowly and watched what he was doing over his shoulder.

"How smart did you tell him I was?" He said very concentrated, as he took a firelighter with a pair of tweezers and lit it, and waited till the flame died down a little, before he gently balanced it on the metal strings in the test tube.

"...genius level ..." she said carefully. "... Look Wally what are you making?"

He turned around with an unpleased expression. "And you didn't think saying that would be a bad idea?"

She signed. "Of course, but what was I suppose to say? That you were a idiot that I didn't need? You think, they'll just let go?"

Wally just looked at her for a while with a raised eyebrow and disapproving eyes, then he signed and turned around and found a small cork and balanced it on top of the test tube.

Lia stepped closer. "So … what are you doing?"

Wally smiled at her over his shoulder. "Do you remember our little _experiment_ with soda and Mentos?"

She smiled at the memory of how they had ruined a lunch at the cool kids table in the second grade and nodded.

"This it just the opposite, if you push down on the cork with enough force, the string break, which causes the firelighter to fall and ignite the xenothium, causing a … _sticky_ explosion."

"You're making a weapon?" Lia asked in disbelief.

Wally nodded.

"You're doing what they want … you … you're actually helping these people?" She asked.

Wally turned to her with an evil smile. "They want a weapon, we'll give them a weapon or two."

Lia blink once, then she understood. "You're planning our escape, aren't you?"

* * *

 **So tell me what do you think?**

 **And do you think Wally should be told that Lia is a Shadow? It will have a lot of meaning to the story later on.**

 **And can you please answer my previous question, it also has importants for the story later on. :-)**


	13. Chapter 13

**I had a day in between two written exams.**

 **So you get a chapter.**

* * *

The computer beeped.

Robin turned to it and started typing.

"Did you find something?" Kaldor asked.

"I don't know, maybe..." Robin said, sounding a little confused. "It seems the emails were sent from a computer in another town, but the it's GPS shows that it's in Lia's house..."

"You mean, that the person who sent the emails to her lives with her?" Kaldor asked.

"So it seems," he said.

"What does that have to do with Wally?" Artemis asked.

"Well... who do think out of the two adults in that house is responsible for the emails? The mom, that Wally's mother vouched for? Or a guy that just moved back in?"

"So what do we do now?" Conner asked.

"Well, you could start by explaining which part of _you're not supposed to get involved_ , you don't get."

"Flash!" Artemis said surprised.

He scratched the back of his neck. "Look, I know that you want to help, but we have everything under control."

"He's been missing for a week, and you haven't found him yet." Robin stated and clicked a few buttons on the computer.

"We're working on that." Flash said with a pained expression.

"That's not right. When Red Tornado went missing, you guys said we couldn't go after him because he was in the justice league." Conner said with his arms crossed over his chest.

"And you went after him anyway." The Flash reminded him.

"You're missing the point!" Artemis said angrily. "He's our team, we should be out looking for him."

Flash turned to her. "And he is my nephew."

Then he was gone.

"Guys?" Robin said, he hadn't taken his eyes of the screen even once.

"What is it?" Kaldor asked, coming into the room.

"I ran Wally's neighbor through every police station's archives and the only thing I found was from crimes in his early teens."

"Then how does he fit in with the … what was it again?" Kaldor asked.

"Xenothium," Robin just said. "I'm not even sure he is anymore, but who else would it be? He's the only one that fits."

"There … there is another possibility..." Artemis said hesitantly. "He could be … in the league in shadow."

* * *

"Wally, they're asking for a progress report." Lia said quietly, while Wally was focusing all his attention on the xenothium running through an elaborate system of tubes, where it continuously was cooled down and heated up.

"Then tell them they shouldn't have recruited two lazy teenagers." He said and dripped a few drops of water into the tubes.

"They want to talk to you." She said and seemed like she wanted to turn into a little mouse and run away.

"What?" He said and turned around. "Why?"

She took a step back. "They just do."

Wally looked at her with a raised eyebrow, then he tilted his head to the side.

"Lia, is there something wrong?" He asked, she seemed very scared, but by what, the league of shadows? Or assassins, or whatever they were called.

She shook her head. "Of course. Wally, I'm terrified."

He gave her a forced smile. "It's going to be alright, I'm almost done."

Lia put her arms around him and looked over his shoulder at the maze of tubes with xenothium running through them.

"What is that, anyway?" She asked.

Wally broke away from the embrace.

"Oh that?" He said with a genuine smile. "That's just to make it look like we're making progress."

Just then the door opened.

Both of them froze, scared that they had heard the last part.

"Hate to break up the flirting, but you got somewhere to be handsome." Chesire said from the doorway.

Wally and Lia looked at each other with a knowing expression, then Wally looked at Chesire.

"Sorry, Lady I prefer blonds." He said.

* * *

"Master," Chesire said, as she lead him into the room. "I brought him."

"Thank you," the man said with his back turned. "You may go."

As soon as the door closed behind her, the man turned around.

"The girl says you have a high intellect." He said and walked towards him.

"Girls says a lot of things," he just said.

It was weird being so close to Ra's al Ghul, it was even weirder that they seemed to have started a conversation.

The man narrowed his eyes at him. "I would like a strait answer."

"Then you probably shouldn't have brought in two teenagers." He said.

All he really needed was to make the fabric-like xenothium even thinner and softer and then … they just needed to locate an exit.

"How's your progress?" Ra's al Ghul asked.

"Right on schedule," he said without even thinking.

The man smiled and walked over to a small table with bottles. "That's good, I did the right thing in bringing you and her."

"What do you know about Lia?" Wally asked out of curiosity.

"The man turned to him again. "Pardon?"

"You have to have some connection with her, since you _pick_ us, and I surely don't have one with you. And you seem to affect her behavior a great deal. One moment she is more than willing to help you, then she's reluctant, and now she seems downright frightened."

Ra's al Ghul poured a brown liquid into a glass.

"She hasn't told you? Of our _connection_?" He said with an amused expression.

Wally narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"Well … it's not really for me to tell, is it?" He asked and poured another glass of the brown liquid.

Then he turned around with a glass in each hand and offered one to Wally.

He just shook his head. "I'm not old enough to drink alcohol."

Ra's al Ghul put one glass down on the table again. "You're old enough by my standards."

* * *

"I'm home," She said and put her bag down by the door.

"Artemis," her mom exclaimed. "Did they find him?"

She just shook her head and sat down on the couch. "We got a lead, but then we hit a dead end again."

"Oh really, what was the lead?" She asked.

"We think the girl he was taken with, her dad maybe a shadow." Artemis said hesitantly.

Her mother blinked. "Oh."

"Do you have … do you know anything about this?" She asked her mother.

She just signed and smiled. "I was an assassin, it doesn't mean I know every shadow in the league."

"But … you don't have any idea where he would be, do you?"

Her mother looked down at her hands in her lab, then up at her daughter.

"Artemis … those people … Ra's al Ghul … I can't betray him, not even after turning my back on them."

Aretmis signed loudly and annoyed.

"I need to use the phone." She said and went into room and slammed the door.

* * *

She picked up the phone and called Robin.

It rang for three seconds before he picked up.

"Yeah?" he said on the other end.

"She has nothing to say about it." She said in a deadly tone, as she threw herself on the bed.

"Well, that's okay." Robin said, through the phone, almost automatic.

"What do you mean?" She asked and sat up in bed.

"I think, I know where he is."

* * *

 **Tell me what you think.**

 **This was a bit of a filler (I have no idea whether that's spelled correctly or not)**

 **there will not be anymore updates until I have passed my exams, because if I don't, I'll have to spend the whole summer reading for the make-up exams, and then there won't be anymore chapters for months to come!**

 **Wish me luck**


	14. Chapter 14

**I passed all my exams**

 **And I'm back!**

"You sure this is it?" She asked Robin.

Robin nodded without taking his eyes of the tall, Chinese styled building. "Lia's father had a maps on his laptop that led to this place."

"Wouldn't it be foolish to leave such a location on his own computer?" Kaldor asked.

Robin smiled as he turned to look at him.

"Shadows don't need to be smart."

* * *

He heard some weird noises and got up.

"Lia?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes. He had fallen asleep was table, while Lia was talking with Ra's al Ghul.

Lia Froze and slowly turned her head to look at him.

She stood still in a fighting stance like she had been fighting an invisible opponent.

"What are you doing?" He asked and got down from the table.

Her arms fell to her sides. "Just trying to calm."

She smiled, but it was strained.

Wally raised an eyebrow, but changed the subject.

"What did he want?" He asked instead.

She shrugged. "What he wanted yesterday and the day before, progress report."

Wally signed and turned to the table with all their experiments. "Do they think that we get this done faster, if they ask every other minute."

"I thought, we aren't going to finish it at all." Lia said with a smile on her voice.

Wally turned around. "We're not. Actually, all we need is the right time and we can get out of here."

Lia stepped over to him.

"I thought, we would use these to get out." She said and made a gesture to the test tubes with xenothium.

"We will." Wally confirmed. "But as amazing as our creation is, it can only take down so many people. We need to do, is find out how to get out and which way has the least shadows."

"Yeah..." Lia said deep in thought and rubbed her chin. "Wait, what!"

Wally raised an eyebrow at her outburst and repeated what he had said. "We need to find out which way out of here has the least shadows, you know the easiest way out.

"Yeah, I got that!" She said with knitted eyebrows. "But you called them shadows. How do you know that's what they are called?"

Wally froze for a second. He had forgotten that he wasn't talking to the team, but his labpartner that never had anything to do with Ra's al Ghul.

"That's what that guy called them, when I … talked o him."

"Ohh … okay..." Lia said, she seemed to relaxed.

Then someone knocked on the open door.

They both turned around.

"I came to see your progress myself." Ra's al Ghul said, as he slowly walked into the room with his hands behind his back.

Wally signed loudly and turned back to the experiment and turned on a burner connected to their maze of tubes.

And the xenothium started gliding through the tubes again.

Ra's al Ghul studied it closely, like he was a judge in a science fair.

He looked impressed at Wally.

"You two seem to have unraveled the mystery of xenothium." He said and then his eyes glided over the test tubes with dry ice and firelighters hovered over the xenothium. "And weaponized it, it seems." He finished and straightened his back and looked down at Wally. "I will need a demonstration."

Lia and Wally looked at each other. Lia looked scared.

Then Wally slowly reached over and carefully took hold of one of the test tubes. And with a firm grip, he slowly lifted it out of the holder and held it up in front of Ra's al Ghul.

"I'll be happy to demonstrate it on you." He said with a smile.

Then the floor shook lightly.

* * *

"Okay," Robin said. "Let's go over the plan."

"We go in get Wally and the girl and get out as fast as we can." Zatanna said.

"We try to be undetected, and if we come across somebody we knock them out quickly and quietly." Artemis continued.

"No unnecessary noise, no unnecessary fights." Superboy finished.

"Good." Robin said. "Let's get Kid back."

He crawled down to a window and slowly cut the glass and reached it and opened.

Then he signaled to the others and climbed in and waited.

The others slowly got in, but when Superboy landed on the ground, the hole floor shook.

And two second later they were surrounded by shadows.

"I think, we are really bad at this stealth thing." Artemis whispered.

* * *

"What's going on?" Lia asked and looked at Ra's al Ghul in fear.

Wally listened. It sounded like a fight, but far away.

"I would like you to demonstrate it on one of my … servants." Ra's al Ghul said, like he hadn't notice anything, then he eyed Lia.

Wally looked at Lia out of the corner of his eye.

"Lia's not your … servants," he said and mimicked Ra's al Ghul's voice.

"We will see about that." The older man said with an evil smile.

"That's enough!" Lia suddenly yelled and took another test tube and lifted it over her head, like she was going to throw it at him.

Ra's al Ghul suddenly got a stern expression.

"Sleep!" He just said in a deep voice.

And Lia fell to the floor, snoring.

Wally managed to catch her with one arm, while still holding onto the test tube.

"What did you do to her." Wally asked.

Ra's al Ghul just smiled.

Then shadows came into the room.

Wally looked down at the sleeping girl hanging on his arm. "You … you can't do that to me, can you?"

Ra's al Ghul shook his head smiling. "Not yet."

 _Wally!_ He suddenly heard M'gann yelled in his mind.

He looked at the door, where Superboy seemed to be mowing down the shadows.

Ra's al Ghul looked confused.

Wally looked down at the test tube in his hand, then at the shadows, then he smiled.

 _Superboy get out of the way!_ He thought hoping Megan had established a mind-link.

Then he looked at Ra's al Ghul.

"Well, dude." He smiled. "You wanted a demonstration, you got it!"

Then he pressed down at the cork and threw it at the shadows, just as Superboy duck out the way.

The xenothium exploded and froze three shadows.

"Pretty good for a test." He said with a smile.

Aqualad knocked out some of the shadows, while Artemis pinned the rest to the floor with arrows.

Wally picked up Lia and ran passed the knocked down shadows as slow as he could, so he didn't give away is secret identity.

"Zatanna!" He yelled, as he ran down the hall. "Can you set fire to that room or something."

"Yeah, but..." She started.

"I'll explain later, just do it!" He yelled and picked up the pace.

 _Turn left, there's an open window. The ship is waiting outside._ Robin said through the mind-link.

Wally nodded as they ran passed the unconscious shadows lying scattered around the halls.

"That's the window?" He asked, and was pushed forward by an explosion in the laboratory.

"Yeah," Robin said and held the window open.

"Just jump out, you'll jump right into the spaceship." Miss Martian said.

He just nodded and handed the still sleeping Lia to Superboy and jumped out the window.

* * *

"Lia … Lia..." He whispered gently as she came to.

"What happened?" She asked and clung to Wally as she saw the other people in the spaceship.

"We got rescued," He said. "And we're to minutes from home."

She signed relieved, but still had a tight grip on his shirt for the rest of the ride.

When they landed and got out, she final let go and smiled at the others.

"Thanks," she said and turned to Wally. "How about we talk tomorrow, figure this out and what we're going to tell our parents."

"Sure," he nodded and watched her disappear behind the fence.

"Well," he said and turned to his friends. "I'll better … go inside too." Then he turned and started walking towards front door.

"Wally … about Lia..." Artemis called after him.

Wally turned around and smiled at her. "Listen Arts, she's a sweet girl but just a friend, we were kidnapped, she was scared. That's all." Then he turned around and walked inside.

"He should know." Artemis said.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure it's for us to tell." Aqualad said.

"Well … we should probably get home too." Robin said.

* * *

"I'm sorry I failed you master." The kneeling shadow said.

"Don't be," Ra's al Ghul said as he inspected the shadow that was still frozen by xenothium. "Your daughter weaponized the xenothium and while the heroes tried to destroy it, we still have the results."

"I'm glad you are content."

"Though that boy was … quiet fascinating." He said while still examination the frozen shadow. "I might have to have another... talk with him."

The shadow didn't say anything.

"Excuse me," a young man said from the door. "I was informed that you wanted to see me … Master?"

Master was more of a question of whether he needed to call him that or not.

"Ahh, yes." Ra's al Ghul said. "I am glad you decided to join this … venture. The light is very pleased."

"Yeah..." The young man said and rubbed his neck. "What is that?" he asked and pointed to the frozen xenothium.

"Your new weapon." Ra's al Ghul said with an evil smile. "Welcome to the league of shadows … Grant Wilson."

* * *

 **I might rewrite this chapter, if you don't like it.**

 **So ... tell me what you think.**


	15. Chapter 15

**I have summer vacation :)**

 **So you get a chapter.**

* * *

"Wally!" His uncle was clearly getting frustrated. "What happened?"

He signed.

"The league of shadows kidnapped us, because they apparently had heard that we were smart."

"That doesn't make sense." His uncle Barry said.

"That's what I tried to explain to Ra's al Ghul … do you know how hard it is to talk to that guy?" He said with a smile.

His uncle just crossed his arms.

"Robin said you threw something, that froze a shadow in some kind of red crystal. What was that?"

"Some odd substance, that Ra's al Ghul wanted us to weaponize." He said, not to fast he hoped.

"But you don't know how to do that." Barry said confused.

"That's what I was trying to tell him." He said with a wry smile.

His uncle gave a stern look.

He signed again and got up from the couch.

"Look … dad already question me about this for the last few days. I have no idea why he picked us, but what I do know is that he didn't know I was Kid Flash."

"But then there really wasn't any reason for him to kidnap you."

Wally scratched the back of his neck.

"Just promise me you won't question Lia, this has been … a lot for her and she's having some problems with her dad."

Barry smiled at his nephew.

"Okay, but..."

"If I remember anything important I'll call you." Wally said, finishing his 's sentence and ran out the door.

* * *

He slowed down till he was walking slowly down the street.

Lia turned around on the bench in front of him.

"Did you have trouble getting away?" She asked, while he reached the bench.

He shook his head.

Lia leaned back against the bench, as Wally sat down beside her.

"They've been asking a lot of questions." She stated.

"Tell me about it."

Lia handed him a bottle of coca cola.

"Have you deleted all your files about Xenothium?" He asked and took a sip of the bottle.

She leaned her head back. "Yeah, but we left our notes behind with..." She didn't finish the sentence.

"Yeah..." He said. "But there's nothing we can do about that."

Lia suddenly sat up. "No. Now how we get them to stop asking questions?"

Wally smiled and looked at her, while she drank from her own cola bottle.

"Is it that bad?"

"You have no idea."

"At least your dad isn't a policeman." Wally said and took another sip.

"No..." Lia said. "But my mother is a nurse."

Wally nodded. "That's true."

Lia signed. "We should probably get home."

"Are we still on for tomorrow?" Wally asked as they got up.

Lia smiled at him. "Well, we have to find a different project, don't we?"

* * *

Robin came at him.

He just stepped to the side.

Robin stumbled but managed to catch his balance.

"You know this isn't really training." He said, after he had turned around to face Wally.

"Well, if you consider how low IQ some of the people we're probably going to fight is … I would disagree." He said with a smile and walked off the training platform.

"Wally!" Black Canary called after him.

"Yeah?" He asked over his shoulder.

"If you need to talk..." she began, but he just shook his head.

"I know you want to help. But I'm fine, nothing happened to me, or my friend."

Then he walked towards the kitchen.

Artemis stopped her sparring with Kaldor and looked at Wally.

"I'm going to tell him." She said.

Kaldor looked at Wally, who disappeared into the kitchen, too.

"I still think it isn't your place to tell him." He said and took a swing at her.

She dodged it. "Who's place is it then? Hers?" She asked and tried to kick him.

He took hold of her ankle. "Maybe you should consider why it is, you want to tell him."

She pulled her foot back and glared at Kaldor, then she walked towards kitchen.

She found Wally eating a plate of cookies.

"I need to talk to you." She said as he ate the last cookie.

"Can it wait? I have to meet Lia." He said and walked past her.

"Wait!" She said.

"What?" He said as he turned towards her.

"Can I come along?" She asked.

He gave her a funny look.

"We going to discuss some homework, but why not?" He said with a smile.

* * *

Lia looked at Artemis with eyes as big as teacups.

"You brought her again." She just said, while they sat down. She didn't sound please.

"Yeah, she wanted to come." Wally said. "Shouldn't I?"

Lia shrugged. "No, it's fine."

"So..." Wally began. "What have you got?"

"Well..." She said and found some books from her bag. "Because we are so close too the deadline, I only have one idea."

She opened one of the books and handed it to Wally.

He glance down at the page, then looked up at her.

"Chemical crystal making?" He said with a sparkle in his eye.

"Blue Chemical crystal making." She corrected with a wry smile.

Artemis looked from one to the other, she had a feeling she was missing something.

"Good." Wally said. "I suppose, you already have a plan for how we're going to do it?"

Lia nodded slowly.

Then the waiter came. "The usual?" He asked.

"Yes," Lia said.

Then the waiter glanced at Artemis.

"She'll have the same as us." Wally quickly said.

The waiter wrote something down and walked away.

"You're here often?" Artemis asked.

Wally nodded as Lia handed him some papers.

"We started to come here, when we started high school. It's very quiet so it's a good place to do homework." He continued as he read through the papers.

"What about..." he started, but were cut off by his phone.

He looked at the screen.

"It's Hero." He said and looked at Lia.

"Then it's probably important." She said.

Then Wally put the phone up to his ear and stood up and began walking out of the cafe.

"Who's Hero?" Artemis asked him.

He held up a finger, as if to say he'll tell her later, and walked out the door.

"You don't how who Hero is?" Lia asked. She smiled.

"You do?" She countered.

Lia nodded slowly with smile.

"Me and Wally know everything about each other." She said. "After all we've known each other since we were kids."

Artemis could feel herself smile. "So he knows your a shadow?"

Lia's eyes got big from shock and fear. "How do you know that?"

Artemis leaned in over the table, as the waiter came with their food.

"My dad's Sportsmaster." She whispered.

Lia turned and looked at the waiter.

"He's just taking a call." She said with a sweet smile, when the waiter looked at Wally's empty chair.

When the waiter walked away, she turned to Artemis again.

"Does Wally know that?"

Artemis nodded with a smile.

"But you don't know much Wally." Lia stated.

"Of course I do." She said.

She was getting really irritated with this girl.

"Well, you don't know who Hero is, then you probably don't know Lea. You didn't know who I was and you probably don't even know about his grandparents." Lia said and took a drink of her soda.

Aretmis raised her eyebrows at her.

What she said. It could just be something she said, but what if...

"But you know..." Lia suddenly said and sounded serious al of a sudden, as she leaned across the table. "I'm not a shadow, my dad is."

"You like Wally don't you?"

Artemis didn't know why she asked that, it kind of just flew out of her mouth.

Lia sat back down and took hold of her sandwich.

"Yes," she said. "But I'm patient."

Then she bit into her sandwich.

* * *

The door closed behind.

"Hey dude, what's up?" He said.

"We need to meet like very, very soon." He heard the Japanese boy say on the other end.

"Is there something wrong? Our meeting shouldn't be until … June." He said after thinking about it for a second.

"No." Hero said. "But I just found something. And beside … a good game of poker never hurt anyone."

Wally smiled and nodded to himself.

"Look dude, I'm in the middle of doing homework, but how about you contact Lea and we figure something out later?"

"Sounds cool. We meeting in your country this time?"

"Yeah, we can probably do that." He said and looked into the cafe. Artemis looked ready for a fight. "Look, I've got to go. Talk to you later."

"Later." Hero said and hung up.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think.**

 **Sorry about it being late, my computer decided to be slow this evening**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry It's been so long I was working at a sports camp and forgot about time.  
**

 **But now you get a chapter.**

* * *

"So..."

"So what?" She almost growled.

"You're angry." Wally just stated.

Artemis stopped.

"What if you knew that there was a lot about me you didn't know?" She asked, still angry.

He shrugged.

"There's a lot I don't know about you," he said and leaned in. "That's why we're dating, isn't it? To get to know each other better."

She just signed and started walking again.

Wally followed her.

"What else don't I know about you and Lia?" She asked over her shoulder.

Wally rubbed his chain, like he was thinking about it throughly.

"Can't remember anything at the moment, but why does that matter, I told you she's just a friend."

Artemis turned around and looked at him with murdering eyes.

"That how you feel, but did you ever consider that's how she feel?"

Wally's eyes expanded.

"Did she ... Did she tell you something?" He asked and watchca her carefully.

She looked down and turned her back on him.

"She likes you Wally, a lot. And she doesn't like me." Her voice were nothing but a whisper.

"Well..." Wally said after a few moments of silence. "Artemis ... If that's how she feels, I think I should stop bringing the two of you together."

Artemis turned around in surprise.

"But ... You're..."

"Friends." He finished her sentence. "We'll continue to stay that way, but since she doesn't like you, I'll have to just see her in school until she wraps her head around the fact that we're together."

Artemis blinked confused at him.

He hadn't defended Lia again. Then ... Should she tell him about Lia's connection with The League of Shadow?

He put an arm around he shoulder and turned her around and they started walking down the street again.

Maybe ... later...

* * *

She stepped out of the shadows and narrowed her eyes at them.

How could that blond girl...! How Wally like her!

"So your labpartner is with the daugther of Sportsmaster?" The shadowy figure asked with a smile.

The girl made her hands into fists.

"Don't make me angry!" She whispered in a dangerous tone.

The man stepped up besides her.

"I'm surprised it took this to change your mind."

"Don't ... just don't talk!" She said through her teeth.

"The man glanced at her knowingly.

"Very well then. Is your mind made up?"

The girl hadn't taken her eyes of the couple, even once.

"Yeah," she said and nodded.

Then she turned to the man beside her.

"If it means to get what I want, I'm joining the League Of Shadows."

* * *

"Look. Can't it wait to the weekend?"

Wally was walking through the cave, talking on the phone.

There was a pause.

"Well, mister private tutoring, I have school."

Another pause.

"No, I can't. My dad would kill me!"

Connor followed him with his eyes from the couch.

"You have a private plane. Send it for me on friday!" He said after another pause.

He made a face.

"What's so important that it can't wait two or three days!"

His expression changed into a smile.

"Hero, I can't drop everything to play poker."

He glanced at Connor.

"Look ... I enjoy hanging with you two too, but..."

He shook his head at the response.

"No," he said. "Of course ... I know..."

Robin came into cave.

Wally glanced at him.

"Look, dude I'll have to talk to you later."

Then he hung up.

He looked from Connor to Robin, as if to see if they pick up what he was talking about on the phone.

Then he just walked away in silence.

Robin looked at Connor. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know." He said. "What's poker?"

* * *

"What's for dinner?" He asked as soon as he got into the house.

"Steak." His mom said from the kitchen.

He smiled at her back, as he passed the kitchen door.

"Good I think I'm starving." He said, as he disappeared into his room with his backpack.

"Don't walk away from someone, while you're talking to them." His mom reminded him from the kitchen.

"I won't," he said as he came out of his room again and walked into the kitchen.

"Did anything happen at school today?" His dad asked his from the kitchen table and looked up at him from his newspaper.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sort of..." he said. "Well it actually started a few days ago."

"What happened?" His mom asked as she set the table.

"Hero called and said he wants to meet as soon as possible." He blurted out.

"About what?" His dad asked and put down his newspaper.

"Top secret," he said quickly.

"Since it's urgent, why not invite them here?" His mother asked and put the food on the table. "Then you won't miss any school and the three of you will be able to discuss the 'top secret' matter."

"Can I?"

His mother smiled. "Of course."

"Cool," he said and pulled out his phone. "I'll call them now."

"Wait till after dinner." His dad said, as his mother sat down at the table.

"Okay," he said and joined them at the table.

* * *

The screens lit up, as Lex Luthor walked into the room.

"What do we have to discuss at this late hour?" Queen Bee asked.

"Just an explanation of what I'm about to do." He said.

"And what would that be?" Vandal Savage asked.

Luthor looked up at the screens with a smile and pressed a button on the remote in his hand.

Three pictures of three young people appeared.

"I have recently been told that three of the smartest people in the world a gathering for a meeting."

"These are the smartest people in the world?" Queen Bee said. "They look like children."

Luther didn't blink. "They are children. But They have some of the higest IQs yet to be recorded."

Ra's al Ghul got a weird look in his eye. "Interesting. You think they'll benefit The Light?"

Luthor nodded with an evil smile.

Vandal Savage nodded slowly. "Keep us updated on your progress."

Then the screens went to black.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think.**

 **If you don't like it I'll change it.  
**

 **Sorry that it's short.**


	17. Chapter 17

**It warm outside!**

 **But you still get a chapter.**

* * *

His phone vibrated on his nightstand.

He rolled over and rubbed his eyes, before he reached for it.

It was from Hero. He had already landed and check-in into his hotel and wanted to know when Wally finished school.

He slowly typed a response and put the phone down again and pulled then pulled the blanket over his head and tried going back to sleep.

The phone vibrated again.

 _Lea hasn't arrived yet,_ Hero wrote.

He signed loudly and sat up in the bed. He might as well get up now, Hero wasn't going to let him be until they meet this afternoon.

* * *

"Wally!" Lia yelled behind him.

"Hey," He said over his shoulder but kept walking.

She breathed heavily when she reached him.

"What's … going on … with you?" She asked. "You've been avoiding me all week."

He slowed down a bit so she could keep up with him.

"Lia..." he started, but didn't continue.

"What's the matter with you?" She asked and tried to grab his hand. He evaded her.

"Artemis," he said.

"What did she say?" Lia asked angrily.

Wally glanced at her.

"It's not what she said, it's what you said."

"What?" She asked confused.

He turned around and walked backwards, while looking at her.

"You don't have to like her, but you don't have to be mean either."

"What did she say?" Lia repeated.

He shook his head, not knowing how to deal with this.

"It doesn't matter what she said, you … you were out of line Lia, I know we've been together since … always, but Artemis is my girlfriend." He tried.

"She won't last Wally," Lia said with a sad expression.

He shrugged. "Only time will tell, but you have to understand Lia, that I'm dating her and until you get your head around that, maybe I should give you some space."

Then he turned around and walked forwards again.

"You haven't even told her about your grandparents." She yelled after him.

He stopped and turned around on the spot.

"You didn't tell her, did you?" He asked in a low dangerous tone.

She bit her lib and looked around franticly.

"I mention that you had grandparents..." She said slowly.

He signed in defeat. "You are really not helping my relationship you know."

"And you should have told me you got a girlfriend." She countered.

Suddenly Wally laughed.

Lia looked at him confused and almost took a step back.

He gasped for air and wiped away an imaginary tear.

"I had no idea I had to clear it with you before I started dating." He said, still laughing.

"Really?" She said with a smile. "It says so in our imaginary contract."

He smiled.

"We better get going or we'll be late for school." He said and turned around.

"Yeah," She said and walked up beside him. "I'm … sorry if you got in trouble because of me."

Wally shrugged. "I'll live … But I think, I need to keep you two separate. You're both important to me, but..."

"We don't really go together." Lia finished.

"Precisely." He said with a nod.

She nodded. "I can live with that."

She reached for his hand and he let her take it.

She smiled warmly.

"So … you have plans today?" She asked.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm meeting Hero and Lea, Hero has made progress."

"On what?"

He gave a look and smiled. "Top secret."

She laughed.

* * *

He had literally just step out of school, when his phone rang.

He signed. Lea and Hero had been burning up his phone all day.

It Was Artemis.

"Hey babe," he said.

"Hey," he could hear the smile in her voice. "I'm going to be a little late, so..."

"Babe I told you I can't come today, I have other plans, remember?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. Then … see you later?"

"Definitely," He said and hung up.

He put the phone i his pocket and saw that a group had gathered at the edge of the school yard … and he thought he knew why.

He signed. So much for his privacy.

He pushed through the small crowd and low and behold there were two black limousines parked on the street.

"Wally!" The girl squealed from one of the limos. "How have you been?"

"Good," he just said hesitantly. "Did you just arrive?"

She nodded."I flight touched down 15 minutes ago."

"Hey man," it came from the other limousine and a Japanese boy in a long black lab coat and a pair of goggles on his forehead came out. "You're finally done?"

Wally smiled at Hero.

"I apologize for my public schooling and the inconvenience." He said and made a small bow.

Hero laughed.

"Well should we get up of here?" He asked and made a gesture to the staring kids behind Wally.

Wally nodded, but looked from one to the other."We're taking two limousines?"

the other two looked at each other.

"Mine is private." Hero said quickly.

"And mine's a rental." Lea said.

"Then we'll take Hero's car … can you get out?" Wally asked Lea.

She shook her head. "I had all my stuff shipped to the hotel, can you help me?"

Hero and Wally looked at each other.

Hero put his hands up. "Don't look at me, we both know I'm physical incapable of helping her."

"You're hopeless," Wally just said and walked to Lea's limousine and opened the door.

"Hold on to anything that needs holding on to." He said and put an arm under her thighs and one around her shoulders and lifted her out of the car.

She automatically wrapped her arms around his neck.

He walked slowly and carefully to the other limousine, where Hero opened the door for them and Wally carefully placed her inside the car.

"You can just return to the airport, We'll take it from here." Hero yelled at driver of the other limo, who gave a stern nod.

"Well," Hero said and walked to the other side of the car. "What are we waiting for, we have things to discuss."

Then he climbed into the backseat from the other side.

Wally smiled and climbed over Lea into the car and shut the door behind him.

* * *

"Did you see that?" She growled.

"Yeah," Zatanna said slowly.

"He carried her," Artemis said in a dangerous tone. "And she wrapped her arms around him."

"She sure did," Zatanna said and removed her binoculars.

"By the way Arts … is there a reason for us lying on a rooftop and spying on your boyfriend?"

Artemis was silent for a few moment.

"I wanted to know who were in those black limousines, and if Wally and … Lia..."

Zatanna nodded.

"I understand..." then she turned to Artemis. "But do you really think that he plays three girls at the same time?"

Artemis got up and took one last look at where the limousines were a few minutes ago.

"That's what I'm going to ask him."

* * *

 **So tell me what you think, personally I really like this one.**

 **See you**


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm a little lonely**

 **So you get a chapter**

* * *

"So … How's everything going." Hero asked, as they walked into the hotel room.

"Apart from my whole school just saw me drive away in a limousine, everything is normal."

Wally said and threw himself in a an armchair.

"So Hero, what is the progress you kept talking about on the phone?"

Hero got a briefcase out from under the bed and opened it.

"Look," he said and showed him them a blueprint.

Wally studied the blueprints. "Is this a new toy?"

"No." Hero said frustrated.

Wally handed the blueprint to Lea.

She narrowed her eyes. "What is it suppose to be?" She asked.

"It's an electromagnetic field generator, that runs on solar panels." Hero said. "I still need to make the prototype, but … what do you think."

Lea put the blueprints down. "How is this going to help reduce crime?"

Hero huffed. "It can keep criminals restrained for a longer periods of time."

She nodded and looked at Wally. "What do you think?"

Wally rubbed his chin. "What's the range?" He asked."

"2500 square meters," Hero answered.

He nodded. "And you have to place these ..." he looked at the blueprint more closely. "Re-routers? … in the ground before activating it?"

Hero nodded.

"That could be problematic," Lea chimed in. "It would take to much time to install the … re-routers?... the people you're trying to catch could get away."

Wally nodded. "And the range is to low. The wider the range the easier it would be to catch and detain criminals."

Hero took back the blueprint and nodded. "I hadn't thought of that." Then he put his head down. "I guess it's back to the drawing board, huh?"

Wally nodded.

"But isn't that what we are here for?" Lea asked. "To find faults in each other's projects?"

"Jep," Wally agreed. "Speaking on which how is your plan to ending hunger going?"

Lea signed. "Slow, very slow. How's the cure for cancer coming along?"

"I'm getting there, but you know..."

Hero signed and fell backwards onto the bed. "So we planned a meeting, rented hotelrooms and flew across the world for nothing."

"Well..." Lea said in a smile.

"What?" Hero said and lifted his head.

"We could still play poker."

Wally shrugged "I'm game."

* * *

She dialed his number again.

There was no answer.

She grinded her teeth and held up her phone, like she was going to throw it.

"Who are you mad at?" Rocket asked as she watched her from the kitchen with a raised eyebrow.

"Wally," she breathed.

"Don't hold your breath," Robin said, while he was typing on a computer. "He has some kind of club activity today."

"Club activity," she said almost sarcastically.

"Yeah," Robin said, clearly not listening. "He goes a couple of times a year."

"What does he do on these _club activities_?" Zatanna asked from the couch."

"Didn't he say something about poker?" Superboy said and looked up from his history book.

"Poker?" Artemis repeated in disbelief.

Zatanna raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Isn't that illegal?"

Robin's forehead got wrinkly. "I don't think so … not if they don't bet on it, then it's just a card game."

"What are you looking at?" Zatanna asked and got up.

Robin turned around. "Just some stuff about Count Vertigo."

"What did he do?" She asked and looked over his shoulder at the computer.

Robin quickly closed the window he was looking at. "It's really not him who's doing anything. He's still in Belle Reve."

Zatanna stepped back. It was clear to her, that there was something he didn't want to tell her, or the others.

"Why are you mad at him anyway?" Rocket asked Artemis. "If he can't talk because he's doing some kind of club activity, he'll probably call back, when he's done."

Artemis growled. "He carried another girl."

"What?" Rocket asked confused.

Zatanna signed and ran a hand through her hair. "We kind of … spied on Wally this afternoon..."

"What?" Robin said and got up from the computer in shock. "Why?"

Artemis squirmed and shrugged. "I … I just wanted to!"

"Why would you want to do that?" M'gann asked from the kitchen, where she was baking cookies."

Artemis bit her lib. "I just wanted to see that he kept his promise! But anyway he carried a girl!"

Robin rubbed his chin. "What was the context?"

"What?" Artemis asked confused.

"He means how he ended up carrying the girl." Rocket explained as she leaned up against the kitchen counter with arms crossed.

Artemis looked away, mad.

"He lifted her up from a limousine and carried her into another." Zantana said and looked at Artemis, concerned.

"And did the girl ever touch the ground?" Robin asked and looked from Zatanna to Artemis and back again.

"What are you getting at?" Artemis asked as her head whipped around to face him.

"If the girl couldn't walk, then Wally would just have been helping her out … right?" Robin said.

Artemis's eyes got bigger, when she realized what he was saying.

Then she huffed and left the room.

Connor look in the direction she had left in, then looked back down at his history book while shaking his head, like he didn't understand what just had happen.

"Is she going to be okay?" M'gann asked and put the cookies in the oven.

"Yeah..." Rocket said. "She's just jealous ... and too proud to admit she was wrong."

* * *

"You win, again." Lea signed and let the cards fall on the table.

"You're cheating," Hero stated.

"Oh really?" Wally asked. "How am I cheating?"

Hero put his head down.

"You know the rules, dude, if you can't tell how I'm doing it, you can't say I'm cheating."

"We're probably all cheating," Lea said with a smile. "You're just better at it."

"Well..." Wally said and put his feet on the table. "Either way, we're having pizza on your tap tonight Hero."

Hero held up his hands in defeat and walked to his bed and lifted the phone up.

"And here I was hoping that we would be getting shellfish for dinner." Lea said with a smile and pulled two aces out of her sleeve.

* * *

The screens lit up.

"What's your progress?" Vandal asked.

Luthor smiled. "I have found the hotel where they are meeting and have sent … someone to collect them."

"How again will this help our goal?" Ra's al Ghul asked over the monitor.

Luthor's smile grew dark.

"Just think friends, we'll have three of the smartest children in the world under our control. The projects we have put on the back burner, our contingency plans, we can get them, not just to work on them, but plan them, finish them."

Queen Bee nodded slowly in approval.

"Keep us updated," She said. "I'm looking forward to see the results."

He nodded and the screens were cut off.

* * *

There was a knock on the door.

Wally lied on the bed on his back with his head hanging over the edge and watching tv upside down.

"Is someone going to get that?" He asked.

"Sitting in a wheelchair." Lea argumented.

"I ordered it." Hero said, he was sitting in the armschair.

"But I beat you in poker," Wally argued.

Hero signed and got up.

"These mysterious figures there can be seen jumping from roof to roof at night in Starcity have yet to be identified..." the female newsreport on the tv said, as he opened the door.

She woman standing with there pizzas had red hair and where dressed like someone from roomservice, but there was something about her eyes, they almost looked like they where made of glass.

He took the pizza and went inside without saying a word to her.

"Pizza," he exclaimed and they gathered around the table to eat.

After taking a couple of bites Lea looked at it funny. "Is it just me, or does this taste odd."

The boys looked at her, then at each other, then shook their heads and continued to eat.

After they had each had a couple of slices, Lea started rocking from side to side.

"What's wrong?" Hero asked.

"I just fell … kind of … sleepy..." She said slowly and kept rocking slowly from side to side.

Wally's eyes got blurry for a second, but then he blink and it was gone.

"What was on that pizza?" He asked.

"Don't know..." Hero asked and rubbed his forehead. "But I think it's giving me a headache."

Wally got up put stumbled a bit.

Then there was a loud bang. It was Lea, she had banged her head against table, she wasn't getting up.

His vision got blurry again.

The blurry form, he knew was Hero, fell backwards of the chair.

He rubbed his eyes it didn't help.

He lost his balance and fell to the floor, then he heard the door open, slowly.

Someone in high heels stepped into his field of vision and touched, what he thought was Hero.

Then his eyes got even more blurry and after he had blinked a couple of times everything went dark.

* * *

 **So ... tell me what you think.**

 **I don't know anything about the laws of poker or gambling, but it fit's into the story :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm back!**

* * *

"Wally … Wally!" Somebody whispered with panic as he came to.

"What?..." he said a bit out of it. "Where are we?"

He looked around.

The three of them where sitting around a conference table.

"Not sure?" Hero said slurring his words a bit.

"Are you in your chair?" Wally asked Lea.

She shook her head. "Nope."

He rubbed his eyes, and realized that one of the walls were actually a window.

He got up and stumbled over to it.

"What do you see?" Lea asked.

"We're in Metropolis." He said. "There's a sign saying: _Metropolis's really best pizza place_."

"That's pretty close too Central City, right?" Hero said.

Wally shrugged. "I suppose it could be farther away."

"Any of you have your cell phones?" Lea asked.

The boys felt their pocket.

Hero shook his head.

"No..." Wally said.

"Okay," she said slowly and turned to look at Wally. "Do you know where in Metropolis we are?"

He shook his head and signed.

"I think we can no longer deny the facts, we have been kidnapped." He said.

"Well, daa." Hero said, still slurring his words a bit. "Now … how are we going to play this."

"That's true," Wally said and walked back to the table and sat down.

"So..." Lea said. "The way I see it we have two options, we can either play tough and demand a lot of money for whatever they want and show of our intelligence at every opportunity, or we could behave like the spoiled teenagers we are."

"I lean towards the first option," Hero said and rubbed his forehead.

"Me too," Wally agreed. "Besides I'm not really a spoiled brat."

"If we ask your grandparents your as rich as we are." Lea said with a smiled.

He signed. "Don't bring them into this."

She shrugged. "I have a reputation to uphold, so I agree, we should act overly intelligent and money hungry."

"Are you being sarcastic?" Hero asked.

"More like direct." She shrugged.

"I hope this works," Hero said. "I have to be back in Japan to sign some document."

"Right now, we should just worry about getting out alive." Wally said.

Suddenly the door swung open.

It two tall men, dressed in black suits with sunglasses covering their eyes.

"Bodyguards," Hero commented loudly.

"You'll be coming with us." They said, sound almost like a threat."

Lea smiled. "One problem with that, I can't walk."

The men stepped to the side, revealing a manual wheelchair."

"How medieval," Lea commented, still with a big smile on her face.

One of the men went to Hero and pulled him to his feet by his shoulder.

"You know, we are capable of standing up by ourself." Wally said and rose to his feet. "All you have to do is ask nicely."

* * *

"There's no need to push us." Hero said irritated, after one of the bodyguards had pushed him forwards to keep them moving. "We know we won't get anywhere by standing around."

One of the men grunted.

Hero and Wally glanced at each other, and Hero nodded to the wall.

"Very modern design, the building is new and owner is rich." He said.

"Yeah..." Wally said. "But we don't know if the owner and the kidnapper is the same person."

"True," Lea said. "But then again I don't think we need to wonder who it is for much longer." Then she glanced up at the pushing her wheelchair.

Wally looked down the hall to the door they were walking towards.

"I agree," he said.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, only glancing at each other. Not really knowing what was going to happen next.

When they got to the door it opened and showed a tall woman with long brown hair in a suit.

Hero recognized her as the girl, that had giving him the pizzas.

"Welcome," a man sitting behind a desk in the room, it was Lex Luthor.

Wally turned stiff.

Lea gave him a funny look. "Do you know him?"

Wally looked at her and tried to relax.

"Yeah," he said. "He's the richest man in Metropolis." Then he leaned down to her and whispered loudly: "And according to rumors he has a really big problem with Superman."

Lex Luthor smiled. "Some rumors are true."

Wally looked up, a little shocked that he reacted.

Hero looked at Wally.

"But Superman is one of the … good guys, right?"

Wally nodded silently.

Lex Luthor gestured to two chairs. "Please sit."

They looked at each other and slowly sat down, Lea was wheeled up beside Hero.

Lex Luthor sat down at his desk in front of them.

He looked from one to the other.

"You are quite the group," he said.

"We've heard that before," Lea said in a hard tone.

Lex Luthor seemed almost amused by that.

Hero seemed bored with the whole thing and instead turned around and looked at the woman. who stood like a statue by the door.

"You're probably wondering why I … invited you." Lex Luthor said and folded his hands on his desk.

Lea leaned forward. "We are three of the smartest teenagers in the world, you want our brains."

"And we want our phones back." Hero said without taking his eyes of the female bodyguard.

Lex Luthor raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Hero got up and walked over to the girl.

Both Lea and Wally turned to see what he was doing.

He just stood in front of her and stared.

"Anyway," Wally said and turned back to Luthor. "What can we do for you, that you can't do for yourself."

The man looked intrigued. "What do you mean by that?"

Wally nodded to the wall. "You have a diploma with your IQ on, not as high as ours, but higher than usual."

"Isn't it a sign of extreme narcissism to display proof of one's intelligence?" Hero asked, while looking the girl up and down.

Wally got up. "What are you doing?"

Hero stopped and looked up at Wally, then he pointed to the girl. "I don't think she's a human."

"A robot?" Lea asked, still sitting in front of Luthor.

Wally shrugged and stepped in front of the girl.

Then he stared at her for a couple of seconds.

"Take your clothes off babe." He then suddenly said.

She turned her head and looked at Luthor.

"Robot." Wally acknowledged and stepped away from her.

Hero kept starring. "She's really well made."

"Very good," said Luthor. "How did you figure it out, so quickly."

Wally gave him an arrogant smile. "In this modern society, there's is three ways a woman will react to that question." He held up one finger. "Slap me." He raised another finger. "Start flirting with me." Then he raised another finger. "Or reprimand me in some way. She looked at you, because she didn't know how to react, because you didn't think of programming her to respond to that kind of question."

The man at the desk looked a little taken aback. "Very good."

"Now," Lea said. "What is it you want with us?"

Luthor stood up. "How about I show you?"

* * *

"Lia?" Her mother asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said, as she walked through the living room, passed her mother. "Me and Wally..."

Her mother put her book down. "Did you two have a fight."

Lia nodded silently.

"Oh, honey." Her mother said and got up. "Don't worry, things like this happen, when you're young, your father and I had fight too."

Then she put her arms around her daughter.

"Thanks," Lia smiled. "...I have some homework..."

Her mother let go still smiling. "Dinner's in an hour."

* * *

"What are you doing?" Her dad said, suddenly standing behind her.

Lia smiled over her shoulder.

"Look," she said and gestured to her computer screen. "This is all the notes Me and Wally have on Xenothium."

Her father leaned in.

"Everything?"

Lia nodded. "Wally wants me to delete it."

Her father looked at her. "Are you going to?"

"Yes..." she said and smiled. "After I upload everything to The League of Shadows database."

Her smile got wider.

"I'm not really lying, if I do what he asked me to."

* * *

"How low can this elevator go?" Wally asked, as the display showed: _sublevel-34_.

"We should be about 4 kilometers below the surface," Lea commented.

Luthor didn't comment.

Suddenly the elevator stopped and Lex Luthor gestured to them to get out.

Sublevel-38 Wally noted.

"Wow!" Hero said, as he stepped out.

"You can say that again..." Lea said, as she looked up with big eyes.

They were standing in a large, bright lit, metal hall with hundreds of people running around.

And in the middle of the room was a large, metal, circular formed skeleton of some kind of … building.

"What is that?" Lea asked and narrowed her eyes.

"A spaceship..." Wally said in disbelief.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think.  
**

 **I don't know how I feel about this chapter**

 **The team will be in the next chapter.**


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm back again ... and I feel a little lonely**

 **You get another chapter.**

* * *

"Really?" Hero asked without taking his eyes of the metal skeleton.

"Close, but no." Luthor said.

Wally turned around to face him. "Then what is it suppose to be?"

Lex Luthor walked passed them with his hands clasped behind his back. He looked up at the skeleton with an odd smile. "It's a war machine."

Lea looked at him in disbelief. "Why are we here?" She asked.

Wally nodded and looked up at the construction, mesmerized.

"You're planning something big..." He said and didn't even blink.

This could be a chance to figure out what The Light was planning, but … it would required that the team found out about his … club activity.

Hero rubbed his chin.

"You want us to finish it?"

Luthor nodded.

Lea glanced at the boys.

They nodded.

Then she turned to Lex Luthor with a dark smile.

"We would be happy to, but we don't work for free."

Luthor looked puzzled by a moment, but then he looked amused.

"Is that so?" He asked.

Suddenly a few supervillains stepped out from behind him.

"Where they here before?" Hero whispered loudly to Wally.

"It's weird that we didn't see them, especial considering how they are dressed."

Wally nodded with a smile, knowing what to do.

"Yeah, but it still doesn't change that we don't work for free."

A big woman walked passed Lex Luthor and pulled Wally up by his collar.

"Your payment can be your life." She growled at him.

He leaned as far away from her bad breath as he could, not showing any fear.

"Do you realize the idiocy in hurting him?" Lea said.

The big woman turned her face towards Lea.

"What?" She growled.

"If you hurt him, we won't help you." Hero said with a haughty smile and his hands in his pockets.

"You really think you kids have a choice?" A girl asked as he stepped out behind Luthor's bodyguard.

Wally turned stiif for a second. It was Chesire.

"We aren't normal, you know." He said and leaned as far away from the woman as humanly possible. "We are some of the smartest people in the world, and some of the most influential, you risk a lot by kidnapping us." He said, directing the last part to Luthor.

Lea smiled. Knowing what he was doing.

"He's right," she agreed. "You could get in a lot of trouble, if any of our families found out."

"Who says they'll ever find you?" Chesire said as she came towards them.

Hero sighed loudly. "We have a combined Iq of 534, you really think we can't send for help?"

"Your only option is to pay us." Lea just said.

Luthor nodded.

"I'm impressed, you thought of everything."

"We always do," Wally said. "Now will you please put me down, gently." He said to the big woman.

She put him down, not so gently.

"Now," Lex Luthor said. "How much?"

Wally smiled.

* * *

Artemis sighed and stirred her hot chocolate.

Zatanna and Raquel glanced knowingly at each other.

"What?" She asked.

"You're really irritated about Wally." Raquel said.

"Why would I be irritated about him?" She hissed.

"Because you realized that you were being an idiot about the whole situation with the girl in the limo." Zatanna said.

She signed again.

Raguel shook her head.

"You know, we took her shopping so she wouldn't think about him, right?"

Zatanna shrugged.

"It really wasn't working was it."

M'gann took hold of one of Artemis hands.

"It okay, Artemis, you and Wally just need to talk things out." She said with a sweet smile.

Artemis looked from M'gann to her hand and to M'gann again, not really knowing what to do.

She didn't really think there was a need for them to talk like that, after all they weren't like Connor and M'gann. And even if they did talk, she doubted it would go anywhere.

Raquel took a big gulp of her hot chocolate.

"How about we stop talking about boys and start shopping?" She said and got up.

Artemis got up too. "Yeah, besides if what Robin said was true, he won't even answer the phone until monday."

"Right," Zatanna said. "So let's go shopping until then."

* * *

"One million dollars each?"

Hero nodded.. "It seems like a fair price, since this is our first time working for you, and it's not even making a dent in your bank account."

Luthor nodded. "Indeed. Now will there be anything else?"

"Give me my chair back, food and a place to sleep and that will be it." Lea said.

Luthor nodded again and pulled out a blueprint. "Here's what I would suggest you start with."

Lea took it and Wally read it over her shoulder.

He nodded slowly and looked at Luthor. "And I don't suppose you mind if we make some … improvements?"

Luthor shook his head smiling. "Not at all."

Then he left them alone in the room.

Hero signed and leaned back in chair, exhausted.

"We pulled it off." He said.

"Yeah, but we wasn't suppose to make a deal." Lea said irritated.

Wally sat down next to her and ran his hand through his hair. "It took a turn, we had to adjust the plan a bit."

"Yeah," Hero said and stumbled onto the table. "I mean I never expected to be threaten by super villains..."

"Yeah I can see that," She said, her voice a little calmer. "So, should we actually start working on his … project?"

"We have no choice." Wally said. "Lex Luthor maybe not as smart as we are, but he is smart, if we start faking this he'll know."

Lea nodded and bit her finger, while looking at the blueprints. "He'll properly post bodyguards near us at all times, maybe super villains, maybe not."

Hero signed. "So we keep the act up at all times?"

Wally nodded.

Hero signed again. "I'm not going to sleep for a while."

"We don't need to finish it," Lea reminded him. "We just need to keep it up, until we can send for help."

"Let me handled that." Wally said. "I know who to contact."

The others nodded.

"Your country." Hero said and looked like he was deep in his thoughts.

Lea signed too. "I hope he'll give me back my chair, I designed that thing myself!"

"Well it was a part of our imaginary deal," Wally said.

"Yeah..." Lea nodded. "If nothing else, we at least got to try blackmailing a businessman, after he had kidnapped us none the less."

Hero nodded slowly. "1 million American dollars..."

"Yeah..." Wally agreed.

Lea looked from one to the other.

"Do you guys want the money, or something?"

"Of course not!" Hero said and sat up, clearly offended. "I feel cheap! If this was real we should have asked at least 10 million."

* * *

 **So ... tell me what you think.**

 **I've been kind of down and need to know I'm good enough**


	21. Chapter 21

**I'm so relaxed I almost forgot to update**

* * *

"Wally hand me that," Hero said and pointed to a power tool on the floor with one hand and held a metal plate in place with the other.

Wally handed it to him, then went back to unraveling electrical cords.

"I really don't get it." Lea said, while staring at the blueprints. "Why would he ask us for help?"

Wally shrugged and glanced at Chesire, who was standing against the wall keeping an eye on them.

"I mean his theories and methods are sound, the design is good," She looked at the guys. "Why can't he do it himself."

"Why do anything, if you can pay someone else to do it." Hero said and fasten the metal plate to the skeleton.

"True," Wally said and Put the cords down to help Hero with another metal plate. "So the plan is to cover the lower level of the skeleton, then do the electric work?"

Hero nodded and used the power tool to fasten the metal plate.

"Well, he probably think we can improve on his plan. Besides, there are some holes in it." He said and lifted another metal plate.

"Yeah..." Hero said and pushed the metal plate into place and fasten it.

Lea nodded. "I can see that."

"There," Hero said and dried his hands on his pants. "Only three more and we can start the wiring."

Wally nodded and kept an eye on Chesire.

She still just stood there, against the wall, staring at them.

Lea followed his line of sight. Then she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Interested?" She asked and pointed to a red cord, after looking at the blueprints. "Start with that one."

Wally shook his head.

"Leave one plate out." He said to Hero and stepped into the shell of the spaceship … or war machine … and started weaving the red cord along the skeleton on the wall.

"If your not interested, then why were you staring at her?" Hero asked and handed him a dark green cord.

Wally took it.

"Because Chesire was staring at me," he said without thinking.

Hero looked back at Lea.

"Chesire?" Hero asked. "You know her?"

Wally stopped and looked at the others.

This was exactly why they all had to be on their toes all the time, so they didn't say anything unnecessary...

He signed and went back to work.

"You might not believe this, but this is the second time in a month I've been kidnapped." He said and continued weaving the cord up the wall.

Lea came into the shell of the war machine. "Really?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"Remember Lia, my neighbor?" He said and looked up at the blueprints Lea held up. "Blue," he said and Hero handed him a blue cord.

"Yeah, she was the one that wanted to be in our club, but isn't quite smart enough, right?" Hero said and held onto the green and red cord, while Wally weaved the blue one around them.

"That's a harsh way to put it … but yeah." Wally said and looked at Lea over his shoulder. "Which one is next?"

"Yellow," Lea said and handed him the cord. " So … why were you kidnapped?"

"Not really sure," he said without taking his eyes off his work. "It had something to do with a project we were working on..."

"What was that?" Hero asked and took the next cord.

Wally swallowed and turned to look at them, hesitantly.

"Xenothium..." he said.

The two of them just stared at him.

"Are you insane?" Hero asked and dropped the cord. "That's stuff is dangerous!"

Lea nodded in agreement. "Isn't that the most unstable substance in the world?"

Wally grimaced and nodded. "Yeah..."

"So, what did they want you to do anyway?" Lea asked.

Wally shrugged and went back to the weaving the cords together. "I think weaponize it."

"Did you do it?" Hero asked and handed him a new cord.

"Almost," he said and connected two cords. "I got saved, but I left my notes behind."

Lea looked out at Chesire and leaned forward.

"That reminds me." She whispered. "Do we know how to get out?"

Wally gave a single nod and glanced over at a stationary computer.

Lea followed his gaze and smiled and nodded. "Okay..."

Then she rolled out.

"That Luthor guy thinks we're doing this to get paid, do you really think he's suspicious of us?" Hero whispered.

Wally shrugged and looked towards Lea, who was typing away on the computer.

"Did you find it?" He yelled to her.

"Not yet," She said, as she read the texts on the screen. "The schematics are going to be a little more complex than one of your toys."

Wally smiled.

"See this?" He said and pointed to the cords. "The weapon is going to be somewhere around there," he said and pointed to a spot on the wall over their heads. "But there's also going to be multiple weapons down here," he said and touched the in front of them. "As well as under our feet."

"Yeah..." Hero nodded and rubbed his chin. "His blueprints are flawed, if all the weapons were installed the way he drew it, there wouldn't be any space for wiring, or hydraulic."

They looked at each other.

They had discovered a way to get more time.

"There just one more..." Lea said loudly, and Wally and Hero looked towards her, as she pushed _Enter_.

There was a strange humming, then a pop, then another pop.

Lea pushed away from the computer as it made another loud pop and bursted into flames.

Hero tried not to laugh as all the other computers in the hall went up in flames.

"Are you okay?" Wally asked and ran to Lea as slowly as he could.

"Yeah..." she said and ran a hand across her forehead.

"That was close." Hero said and examined the burning computer.

"Yeah! I was this close to finish the schematics," Lea said and pressed her thump and index finger close together.

"What's going on here?"

They all turned, it was Lex Luthor.

"Either we blew something, or your system has a very low capability." Hero said.

"Either way I can fix it." Wally said, already taking apart the computer.

Luthor came closer.

"How much of a setback is this?"

"It'll take the rest of the day to repair the computers and get the system up and running." Wally said as Hero handed him a screwdriver.

"And if you add that we have to come up with new schematics for your war machine..." Lea said.

"Two to three days."

Luthor nodded and left.

A man covered in ice meet him in the elevator and Chesire left, while the _ice man_ took her place.

Wally looked up.

"Icicle junior," He explained and went back to work.

"Junior?" Hero asked.

"Don't know," Wally said, answering the unspoken question without looking up.

"Are you sure you can get all of the computers up and running today?" Lea said.

"If not, I'll have to skip dinner." He said and pulled out a burned hard drive.

Icicle junior huffed. "I thought you kids were suppose to be smart."

Wally turned around slowly and looked at him.

"Can you fix a computer, wise guy?"

* * *

She had locked herself in the room.

Her parents were in the living room, she didn't want to think about what they were doing.

She signed and surfed through different internet sites.

Sometimes she really regretted letting her dad home back in, then again having him there made some things … easier.

Suddenly a friend request popped up.

She clicked on it.

The username was W.

She raised a confused eyebrow and read the message.

It was a series of numbers and bold letters.

She stared at it confused, then it hit her. The code!

Almost franticly she went opened her closet drawer and pulled out all her socks. At the bottom of the drawer there was a small book, she sat back down at the computer and found a piece of paper.

She quickly wrote down what the message said through the code.

When she reached the last line, she looked down at the piece of paper.

 _I have been kidnapped by LL with Lea and Hero. Help. Give this to my uncle Barry. He'll know what to do. Wally._

Lia stared at the message in disbelief.

What in the world was going on!

* * *

Hero threw himself on the bed.

"This much pretending is exhausting," he breathed.

"Do you think, we are being listen to now?" Lea asked, she was sitting on her bed staring down at her lap.

Wally shook his head and yawned. "They think we're sleeping and besides there's no cameras."

"Isn't it weird that we all share a room?" Hero asked, lifting his head.

"I'm just glad we all together," Wally said and sat on his bed. "Besides this is pretty luxurious accommodations."

His smile was a bit strained.

"Did you send for help?" Lea asked.

Wally fell backwards onto the bed.

"Yeah," he said.

"Do you think it's safe?" Hero asked, staring at the ceiling.

"Don't worry I send it through a code." Wally said and shut his eyes, he was really tired.

Lea signed in relief. "Then we'll get home soon."

"It might take a few days for the message to reach the right people." Wally said without opening his eyes.

"What!" Hero sat up in bed. "You didn't send it to the _right_ people right away?"

Wally sat up in bed and turned to him.

"No, there was only one that would understand the code, and she can't us." He said. "Besides this way, no one will be able to track the message from now on."

"Why not?" Hero asked.

"Because now it's in her hands, and you can't easily track human behavior."

* * *

 **I have a question:** **there are a few reviews from _Guest_ , is that one person or more?**


	22. Chapter 22

**And we're back.**

 **Thanks for review by the way, it's nice to hear.**

* * *

Artemis sat on the couch, looking from the entrance to the cave to her, expecting for Wally to either enter the cave, or call her.

She had been sitting like this for half an hour.

"Arts, he's going to come." Zatanna said and leaned on the couch's armrest. "There's no reason to sit here and wait."

Artemis turned to her, as she put her phone away.

"I tired to call him last night, he didn't answer."

Zatanna shrugged.

"He was probably just tired." She said. "Come on, training is starting in 20 minutes."

Artemis got up and followed her to the changing room.

She looked at the phone one more time.

She would never admit it to anyone, but she was worried.

* * *

She dialed Clara's number.

"Yes?" Lia's mother answered.

"Clara, have you seen Wally today?" She asked hoping for the best.

"No, why?" she asked on the other end.

Wally's mother clutched the phone tightly.

"He was suppose to have come home yesterday, but he still hasn't been home. We thought, he maybe went over to you guys and just forgot to tell us."

"No, we haven't seen him, but … Lia just left because she said, she had to return one of Wally's book she had borrowed."

"Well, she's not here..." Wally mother said and looked out the window.

There was no trace of Lia anywhere.

She heard Clara gasp.

"Please don't tell me, they went missing again..." She sounded about ready to cry.

She swallowed.

"Look," she said as calmly as she could. "I'm sure they're both fine. Now … I want you to call Lia as soon, as you hang up with me, if she doesn't answer then we'll figure out, what we're going to do."

"Okay," Clara said, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to do that now."

Wally's mother smiled.

"Goodbye." She said.

"Goodbye," Lia's mother replied and hung up.

* * *

She had to go by foot.

She couldn't let her dad find out where she was going, or why.

Luckily the police station wasn't that faraway. She just hoped Mr. Allan was working, or else this was going to be a lot harder.

She walked as calmly as she could, but walked fast to get out of the neighborhood, before someone could see her and question her.

She crossed the street and took hold of her hood, to pull it over her head, but then let go.

It would only make her look suspicious.

She signed relieved, when she was final out of the neighborhood.

Her phone suddenly began to ring and she irritated bit her lib and slowed the pace, when she saw that it was her mom.

Did she know she wasn't at Wally's.

She swallowed and took the call.

"Hey..." she said, she hoped she didn't sound weird.

"Lia! Are you okay?" Her mother asked with panic in her voice.

"Yeah..." she said, hoping her mother couldn't hear her footsteps through phone. "I'm just over at Wally's. It's okay that we're a movie right?"

"I got a call from his mother. You're not over there, and neither is Wally." Her mom said in an almost harsh tone.

She bit her lib again.

Typical of parents to make this so much more difficult.

She sucked air in.

She had about ten seconds to come up with a lie, that both her and Wally's mother would believe.

She couldn't tell her mother the truth, she would blab to her dad, as soon as she put down the phone.

She looked around, trying to think.

What could she tell her.

Then a light bulb went of in her head. The only thing she had to do was get to the police station, as fast as she could.

"He's still doing his club thing with his two smart friends. Mmh … they're really into some kind of experiment and need one of my books on mechanics. He hasn't called home, because … they wanted to go deeper into the problem and didn't want school to distract him."

"Really," her mother sounded skeptical. "He should have called home and explained."

"Mom, you know how his dad is when it comes to school." She said and added a little giggle, hoping it didn't sound fake.

"Yeah, I know." Her mother said, her voice sounded lighter. She had bought the lie.

She almost sign in relief.

"Yeah, is it okay that I'll … like have a drink with them or something." She asked, hoping that could buy her a little more time.

"Of course Sweetheart." She said. "Next time, just tell me the truth, I could've driven you."

"Okay, I'll remember that for next time. Look I got to go." She said, and crossed a big street. She was just two blocks away from the police station. "Bye."

She hung up without getting a response from her mother.

She took a deep breath,€ relieved that her mother had believed her.

She put the phone in her bag and picked up the pace, until she was almost running.

She had to get there, before the phone call, that within the next few seconds were likely begin between her and Wally's mother, would end. And Wally's mother would start calling around, looking for her son.

* * *

"A little more," Hero said and gestured with his hands for them to raise the half covered skeleton.

They lifted it a little more.

"Wally what do you think?" He said as he rubbed his chin.

Wally got down on his stomach and looked under the skeleton.

"Ten centimeters more and I think we've got it."

"You heard the man," Hero said. And they raised it another ten centimeter.

"What do you think now?" He asked Wally.

Wally laid down on a lying board and rolled under the skeleton.

"This'll work," he said and came out from under it.

"Good. What do you think of this." Lea said and showed them the new schematics to the two of them.

Wally got up and ran a finger over his chin, as he looked at the blueprints. "Looks good, efficient."

"Yeah," Hero said. "You seem to have thought of everything."

She smiled.

"How far are we?" They suddenly heard a voice from behind them, and when they turned around. There was Lex Luthor.

"Well, since we've finished the new schematics, we can get started." Wally said.

"What was wrong with the originals?" He asked.

"Turns out they weren't efficient enough and we had to start from scratch."

"Oh?" Luthor said. "You came up with new ones pretty quickly."

Hero shrugged. "Maybe you just don't know how to build a war machine."

"You know … you've create a lot of work for us." Lea said and typed away at the computer.

"Yes, if you had gone through the proper channels, we wouldn't have to cut our little conference short, our parents and guardians would know where we're, we could have brought the proper tools, we could even have giving you a new customer discount."

Luthor raised an eyebrow at them.

"You have only been working on this for 3 days."

"Yeah, and we kind of like working on a spaceship-like war machine." Wally said and rolled under the skeleton again.

Luthor left the room.

Hero signed and bent down as Wally rolled out again to get a screwdriver.

"Nothing has happened yet." He whispered.

Wally looked confused, but then gave him an odd smile.

"It's been a day," he whispered. "As soon as we don't finish this It'll be fine."

Then he rolled back in.

* * *

"Mr. Allen?" She said as she got into the break room at the police station.

Wally's uncle looked up.

"Yes..." he said and looked her up and down. "Your one of Wally's friends, aren't you?"

"Yes," she said and closed the door behind her.

"What are you doing here?" He asked confused.

She swallowed and found the note from her bag.

"Wally sent me this message last night."

Wally's uncle read the note then his eyes widen, and he looked up at her.

"Do you know who LL is?" He said.

She crossed her arms, and shook her head.

He nodded slowly and looked at the note again.

"Is he in trouble?"

Wally's uncle looked up again.

He smiled a fake smile, as if to calm her down.

"No don't worry, he's not in danger."

She bit her lib.

"I lied to my mom." she said.

Mr. Allen looked confused. "About what...?"

She took a deep breath. "I told her that I knew where Wally was, and he didn't contacts his parents, because he didn't want to go to school."

"And that's a lie?" He asked.

She nodded.

"And you don't know where he is?"

She nodded again.

Then he nodded.

"My mom has probably already call his mom, and … she's probably … panicking right now..."

Wally's uncle nodded again.

"I understand." He said and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take care of everything. Don't worry, Wally is going to be home in a few times, tops." Then he smiled again, this time genuine.

"Now I want you to get home, tell your mother the truth, and just relax. Everything will be fine."

She nodded and slipped out of the room quietly.

Barry took out his phone and dialed Wally's home number.

"Mary? It's Barry, we need to talk."

* * *

 **Tell me what you think :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**I'm back again.**

 **This is my first chapter since I started college again, so I hope you like it.**

* * *

"Team you have a mission." Batman said. Flash followed him into the cave.

Artemis crossed her arms. "Wally isn't here yet."

"That's part of the mission." Flash said in a harsh tone.

Batman pressed a button on the remote.

And three pictures of teenagers, one of them were Wally.

The team was silent, waiting.

"These three are some of the smartest people in the world," Batman said in the same monotone voice, he always used. "They were scheduled to meet in an upscale hotel in Central City but never check out..."

"Plus this was sent to us." Flashed said and showed them a note.

They all looked at the note.

 _I have been kidnapped by LL with Lea and Hero. Help. Give this to my uncle Barry. He'll know what to do. Wally._

Artemis' eyes widen.

"LL? … does he mean?" She asked.

"We think he's referring to Lex Luthor." Batman answer.

"Wally's one of the smartest people in the world?" Superboy said, clearly confused.

"Yes..." Flash said strained.

"How can he be the smartest person in the world, he's … so … Wally...?" Zatanna said.

"They didn't say _the smartest_ … but yeah I agree." Rocket said.

Flash signed. "Look, I know that this probably is a little hard to wrap your head around, but right now Wally and his friends need your help."

"Friends..." Robin repeated.

"Do you think it's wise to put us on this mission?" Aqualad asked.

Batman gave a short nod. "He's a part of your team, you find him."

They looked at each other and nodded.

"Other than that," He then said. "We would like to know, why Luthor would kidnap them."

Artemis nodded.

"Then..." Robin said. "Let's get started."

* * *

"Okay, Wally. How far are we?" Lea said.

Wally rolled out from underneath the war machine.

"About two thirds of the lower part of it is done."

She made a face.

"Yeah, Wally! I have a problem in here." Hero said from inside the war machine.

"Coming," he said and got up.

"What's the problem?" He asked, when he got into the war machine.

Hero was sitting on the floor, working on cable and hydraulics.

He looked up.

"How are things going with the rescue?" He whispered.

Wally just shook his head. "I have no idea, and unless someone comes running in, in the next couple of seconds, I still have no idea."

Hero signed.

"We can't let the progress on this go to far, if he's able to finish this by himself..."

"He won't be" Wally whispered. "We'll figure out something, that'll destroy this thing. And you know..."

He let the sentence hang in the air, as he looked around.

"What?" Hero said and got back to weaving cabels together.

"Because of our progress, he's trusting us more and there are less and less guards around." Wally said with a smile.

Hero looked out of the opening in the wall to see if it was true.

Then he looked at Wally.

"What do you have in mind?"

Wally took a breath.

"What would happen if you connected all the cables and hydraulics?"

Hero raised an eyebrow at him. "All the systems would..." he stopped. "Overload." He finished with a smile.

"If you do that, then me and Lea figure out a way to leave no trace of our blueprints or anything else behind." Wally said and left through the opening in the wall.

"Lea?"

"Yeah?" She said as she clicked away on the keyboard.

Wally leaned down closer to her.

"Forget about the war machine, Hero is … taking care of that. Do you know how to take down an entire mainframe and data bank?" He whispered.

She looked at him, clearly insulted.

"Please, these things are like at least five months! I can easily fry Luthor's entire system beyond recognition." She whispered back.

Wally straighten his back. "Good girl."

"You guys aren't the only ones who know a computer in and out." She smiled

* * *

She watched the TV.

Artemis should be home any moment now.

"This just in," The reporter said. "From the countless photos taking of the mysteries figures in Star city speculations have begone on whether this is just a prank by some extremely athletics teenagers..."

Then her phone ran.

"Artemis?" She guessed.

"Hey, mom. I'm going to be home a little late." Artemis said on the other end.

"Are you with Wally?" She asked, smiling.

She heard a sign.

"Wally has been kidnapped."

"Again?" She asked.

"Yeah..." Artemis sounded exhausted.

She smiled again.

"Don't worry, you'll find him. In the mean time I'll wait up for you."

"Thanks," Artemis said and hung up.

* * *

Robin signed leaned in over the table..

"How in the world are we going to find him?"

Superboy rubbed his chin.

"This is usually where Wally has an idea..."

"Yeah..." Artemis said.

"Well, his ideas are usually so stupid that it's a miracle they ever work." Zatanna said and used her magic to pour tea in cups for them.

Artemis just lightly tapped the table with her finger anxiously.

"Well..." Aqualad said. "It's true that his ideas some times are … very odd, but it's that a way to describe this situation.

Robin sat right up. "That's it!"

"What's _it_?" Artemis asked confused and took a sip of her tea.

"If Luthor kidnapped some of, if not the, smartest people in the world, then a lot of equally smart people would be looking for them..." He explained.

"And the best place to hide them, would the most obvious place, because they would never think to look there." Zatanna chimed in.

"And the most obvious place would be...?" Superboy said slowly.

"His office building!" The all said almost in chorus.

* * *

 **Sorry for the short chapter**

 **Tell me what you think.**

 **Next chapter will be the big rescue! ... (probably)**


	24. Chapter 24

**I've been feeling kind of off today.**

 **Here's your chapter**

* * *

"How are the work coming along?"

They all turned Luthor, who had suddenly appeared behind.

"Good..." Lea said, after a few seconds of silence.

"Yeah..." Hero said slowly. "Anything is going according to plan."

Luthor stepped closer and inspected the war machine.

Hero stood there stiff as a board, until Wally gestured to him to keep working.

He swallowed something and walked passed Luthor and into the war machine.

Luthor suddenly turned to Lea.

"When do you anticipate it's going to be finished?"

Lea's fingers stopped in mid air.

"We're ready for the first test of the things we have implemented, if it goes well we'll continue to next phase." Wally said, he hoped not too fast.

Luthor raised a curious eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

Wally showed a remote.

"We'll hook the war machine up to this. And with a push of the button, it'll activate."

Luthor nodded and reached for the remote.

Wally pulled his hand back.

"No," he said with a smile. "Give us our phones back and you'll get this."

Luthor smiled too.

"I can do that." He said and turned around. "Keep up the good work." Then he left.

Lea signed in silence.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up." She whispered.

"If we're lucky, we won't have to after tonight." Wally said, almost too loud.

"Is it ready?" He asked Hero loudly, as he walked towards the war machine.

"The transmitter is ready," Hero said. "The frequency is … 48.536863." He read and put down a floor plate to conceal the transmitter.

"Good," Wally said and adjusted the frequency on the remote. "Lea should be finished with her virus by tonight at the latest and I manage to convince Luthor to give us back our phones."

"So now we just hope that he didn't take any of our stuff from the hotel and keep working on the machine, until the cavalry comes?"

"Yeah … Look I..."

"You're not responsible, there's no need to apologize." Hero said, as he removed another floor plate. "If nothing else we've tried to build a war machine."

Wally smile. "Yeah, that's true."

* * *

"What are we waiting for?" Artemis asked.

"They probably won't be suspecting us if we come after dark." Robin said.

"That aside," Zatanna said. "Can you believe that Wally is that smart? I mean, yes, he's good at science, but … one of the smartest people in the world?"

"Well, when you think about it, he's never shown us anything to prove how smart he is, he could be faking." Rocket said.

"If he was faking, wouldn't the other smart people figure it out?" Superboy said.

"Superboy is right, but whether he is smart or not, Wally needs our help." Kaldor said.

Artemis signed and looked towards Luthor's office building.

"Yeah, but doesn't it kind of make you wonder what else he's not telling us about?" She asked.

"How long did it take for you to tell us about your family secret?" Robin asked.

Artemis crossed her arms, but didn't say anything.

"Let's calm down," Miss Martian said. "We have already proven that we all have things we rather keep to ourselves, we can ask Wally about it when we get him back."

"Yeah..." Robin said. "By the way, if the other two knew about Wally being a superhero, they would probably have gotten out on their own."

"What are you getting at?" Artemis asked, as the sun began to go down.

"He's saying that we shouldn't call him Kid Flash or hint that we know him." Kaldor said.

"That's fine with me," Artemis said. "But I really want to talk to him afterwards."

* * *

The elevator pinged.

They all looked up.

It was Mercy, with their phones.

"Thanks," Wally said and took them. "Can you tell your boss we'll be up in a moment?"

She just nodded and walked back to the elevator.

Wally handed the phones back to them and signed.

"I guess we're not getting rescued to day." He said and turned on the GPS on his phone.

"Well," Lea said and gestured to the computer screen. "At least the virus is good to go. A push of a button will complete destroy every single computer in this building."

"Maybe someone should question how good we are at corrupting and destroying stuff, when we really want to." Hero said.

"Probably," Wally said. "But somehow that'll take away the fun in situations like this."

"Wally's right." Lea said. "I feel almost like a superspy."

Suddenly the whole room shook.

Lea's wheelchair almost tipped over, but she managed to get it back on all four wheels by leaning to one side.

"What was that?" Hero asked.

Wally grinned as he looked up at the ceiling.

"We might be rescued tonight after all."

* * *

"Is everyone ready?" Kaldor asked.

"Wait!" Robin said holding up his hand.

"What?" Rocket asked.

Robin showed them his phone.

"Wally turned the GPS on his phone back on."

* * *

"Okay, we in..." Zatanna said through the commlink and turned to Robin. "So where's Wally?"

Robin raised an eyebrow at his phone.

"This says he's … 45 floors below us?"

"But this building only have 24 floors, including the ground floor." Zatanna said.

"Which can only mean..." Robin said turning on his commlink.

"Just like Kadmos." Kaldor finished.

Suddenly the whole building shook.

"What was that?" Zatanna asked.

"SP," Robin said through the comlink. "What did you do?"

There was no response.

"What's going on?" Zatanna said.

"Well, either Superboy got mad when we mentioned Kadmos, or he just found one of Luthor's superpowered guards. Either way we probably need to find him."

* * *

Wally held Lea's wheelchair in place as the room shook again.

Then he suddenly remembered.

"Lea can you hack into Luthor's database, while we're waiting for help?"

Lea looked at him over her shoulder, confused.

"Yeah … why?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Find out what he wants to use this war machine for. Hero hold her in place." He said and looked for the remote control. It had fallen somewhere when the room began to shake.

"What about you?" Hero said as the room shook again.

"I'll lead the cavalry down here," he said and got out his phone.

 _We're at Sublevel-38_ he wrote. _Elevator is the only way up and down._

Then he got a response.

 _Coming_

The room shook again, this time more violently.

"There getting closer," Hero said, both relieved and scared.

"I got it," Lea said.

"No time to read it," Wally said and tried to keep his balance. "Send it to me and be ready with the virus!"

Suddenly, as the room shook again, dust fell from the ceiling.

Wally looked up with widen eyes the ceiling was cracking.

Hero looked up too.

"The Cavalry isn't taking the elevator, they're coming through the ceiling?" He said almost amazed.

"Move!" Wally yelled.

Lea pushed pulled the pen on her wheelchair back, pushing both her and Hero backwards out of danger, just as the ceiling came down.

And Superboy and the big woman, that had picked Wally up once when they came there, came down with it.

"The computer!" Wally said.

"Don't worry, I can still do it." Lea said, quietly.

Aqualad came down through the hole in the ceiling.

"Superboy are you alright?"" He asked.

SuperBoy flung the woman through the room.

"Yeah, it was only about 40 floor..." He said and rubbed his head.

"Did you purposely get slammed through 38 floor to get to us?" Hero asked as he got up from being knocked over by Lea's wheelchair. Then he leaned closer to Wally.

"I'm strangely flatter." He whispered loudly.

"Are you okay?" Miss Martian asked as she and the rest of the team came through the hole in the ceiling.

Lea looked over at Wally.

"You call in Superheroes?" She asked in disbelief. "How did you do that?"

"That's pretty cool." Hero commented.

"I'll explain later." Wally said and looked at his teammates knowingly.

Kaldor gave a nod and looked at Miss Martian.

"Miss Martian can you lift all of us up to the surface?"

Before she could answer, the elevator pinged.

"Well hello..." Luthor said. "I didn't expect … visitors."

"You kidnapped three … teenagers!" Artemis said with a raised eyebrow.

"You are wrong, young lady." He said and stepped out the elevator, Mercy right behind him. "I hired these young people."

"You what?" Rocket asked in disbelief.

Hero, Lea, and Wally looked at each other and nodded, and Lea looked at the heroes.

"No, he kidnapped." She said with a little smile.

Hero turned to Luthor, as he looked confused.

"We had a deal..." he said.

Hero shrugged and smiled. "What can we say? We got a better offer."

Wally stepped closer to his team and looked at Luthor over his shoulder. "And this one doesn't make us accomplices to crimes..."

"I can get us all out." Miss Martian said.

"You don't need to," Lea said and pushed a button on her wheelchair, revealing a small keypad. She pushed a button on the keypad, and suddenly her chair rumbled and lifted of the floor.

"Rocket boosters?" Hero asked.

She smiled and shrugged. "I tricked out my chair a little."

Wally nodded. "A little."

Then him and Hero was lifted of the ground.

"Cool," Hero said and smiled.

"I don't mind that you not want to continue your … project. After all, it's almost done..." Luthor said with a smile.

Wally smiled too.

"You wanna bet on that?" He asked and pushed the button on the remote.

* * *

 **To be continued  
**

 **Tell me what you think :)**

 **It's nice to hear**


	25. Chapter 25

**I apologize in advance**

 **Here's your chapter.**

* * *

The war machine exploded underneath them, as Miss Martian lifted them up.

"What was that?" Robin asked.

"I connected all the hydraulics and cables, so when you push the button on the remote, it overloads the system and..." Hero said.

"We made the machine, we were building for Luthor, explode." Wally explained, cutting off Hero.

"Okay..." Artemis said.

"We're still 28 levels below the ground," Aqualad said and looked at Miss Martian. "Is there a way you can get us up faster?"

 _No..._ She said over the mind-link. _I would have to drop some of you to do it._

Aqualad looked at the other. "Do it."

Suddenly the team drop down, apart from Wally, and disappeared as the others picked up speed.

"Are they going to be okay?" Hero asked.

"Don't worry they'll find another way out." Miss Martian said with a smile.

They shoot through the air.

"This is kind of making me dizzy..." Lea said, as she looked down.

"Then … why do you have rocket boosters on your chair." Wally asked.

"I hadn't tried them until now." She answered.

"Is this really the time to test things out?" Hero asked.

"Only 2 levels more to go." Miss Martian informed them.

"Okay, catch me." Lea said and pushed a button on the panel, that turned off the rocket booster. She drop for a second before Miss Martian catch her with her telekinesis.

When they got to the ground floor, she put all three of them down on the ground.

Hero dusted himself off and looked at Wally.

"Now that we aren't in any immediate danger or hanging in midair by some telekinetic power … How did you contact superheroes?"

Wally's eyes widden and he looked at Miss Martian out of the corner of his eyes.

"We're not out of danger yet." Lea said and pointed down the hall, where costumed supervillians came into view.

Wally signed loudly.

"You just had to say, we weren't in danger." He said looking at Hero.

"Don't worry, the others are on their way." Miss Martian said.

"Do you think they'll want?" Lea asked over her shoulder and nodded at the supervilians.

Chesire came closer. "You should have taken Luthor's deal." She said.

"And you should try to grow a conscience." Wally said.

"Are we going to stand here all day?" A teenager covered in ice asked.

Hero turned to the others, as the psychopaths came closer.

"Do we have a plan for dealing with people like this?" He asked.

"Well..." Lea asked and pushed a button on her panel, and a metalic robot arm came out of the side of her wheelchair and it's hook closed around Chesire's wrist and flung her over their heads, so she landed on her back behind them. "We have that..."

Wally and Hero looked over their shoulder, then back at Lea.

"That wheelchair is a little more than _tricked out_." Wally said.

Lea just shrugged.

Suddenly a block of ice came flying towards them.

Wally quickly moved both Hero and Lea out of the way, not considering how fast he was going.

Miss Martian stopped the icicle in midair and shattered it.

Hero just looked at Wally. "How did you move so fast?"

Wally just looked from him to the supervillains that came closer and closer.

"Can we talk about it, when we get out of here?" He asked and moved quickly down the hall, tripping a large, strong woman. And then suddenly standing beside them again.

"You can't beat all of us." A man with a hook for a hand asked.

Suddenly Miss Martian's face lit up. "We don't have to..."

Then the elevator behind the supervillains opening with a small _pling_.

"We have them too."

* * *

"Where are we going now?" Hero asked.

"Out of the backdoor, " Robin said. "If we're lucky no one will see us."

Suddenly Artemis stopped dead in her tracks. "We weren't lucky," she whispered.

Lex Luthor was blocking their exit.

"We had a deal," he said. "A written contract, I can sue you, if you don't go back to work."

Hero smiled. "I'm not so sure."

Luthor raised an eyebrow at him.

"You continue to underestimate us," Lea said smiling. "We faked our own handwriting, anybody who sees those contracts could tell it's not our signatures."

Wally smiled, when he saw the realization on Luthor's face.

"And it if it came out that you kidnapped us, well … we've already discuss that..."

"I still have all your notes … you schematics..." Luthor said almost in panic.

"Yeah, no." Lea said and pushed a button on her panel, and a lot of small bangs could be heard all around them.

"What was that?" Artemis asked.

Lea didn't take her eyes off Luthor. "We just blew your entire computer system."

"Now..." Hero said. "If you don't want to be sued, I suggest you step aside."

Luthor seemed angry, but stepped aside and disappeared.

* * *

Hero signed.

"We're finally out again." Then he suddenly stopped. "God, I'm should have been to work days ago."

"Yeah, we should probably get our things from the hotel and go home." Lea said.

"But first..." Hero said and turned to the team. "How do you know Wally?"

Wally signed. "Okay, I'll tell you..."

* * *

"So … you're … Kid Flash?" Lea said slowly.

"As in the superhero?" Hero continued.

"Yes..." he said, exhausted.

"And this … is your team?" Hero asked.

"Yes," Wally said again.

"And we're in a spaceship?" Lea asked as she looked around.

"Yes," Wally repeated.

"So let me get this straight," she said and turned to him again. "Apart from being one of the smartest people in the world and that..."

Wally put a hand over her mouth. "Please don't mention that." He said.

She looked at the other superheroes out of the corner of her eye oddly.

"Okay … but apart from that, you're a superhero?" Lea said.

"That's pretty cool..." Hero said.

* * *

"Well … this have been one of the strangest meetings, we have ever done. But it was really fun..." Hero said slung his bag over his shoulder.

"We'll have too schedule a new meeting," Lea said and looked very uncomfortable in the airport's borrowed wheelchair.

"Well, I sorry it all went so … wrong." Wally said and rubbed the back of his neck.

"There's nothing to apologize," Hero said and waved at a big man with sunglasses.

"Miss Beduina, are you ready to go?" The man asked Lea.

"Yes, is everything pack?"

The man nodded. "Yes, your private jet is waiting."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now." She said and got a hug from both Hero and Wally before the man in the sunglasses rolled her away.

"Private jet?" Artemis whispered to Wally.

She hadn't wanted to say anything, but this confused her.

Wally didn't explain.

"Mr. Okamura," someone suddenly yelled out. "Are you okay?"

One of the two men, that had yelled out, signed in relief. "Thank goodness, but if your done now there are business matters you need to attend to."

"Sure thing," He said, "I'll do that as soon as we reach Japan, in the mean time, I want to sleep." He said.

Then he just said: " See you." Over his shoulder and disappeared.

Wally signed. It was over … at least for now.

Artemis cleared her throat.

He turned to her.

Maybe it wasn't over just yet.

" A private jet and business matters?" She said.

Wally smiled and put his arm around her and lead her out of the airport.

"Well … Lea's father is an ambassador stationed in Egypt at the moment, and Hero own a toy factory."

"Hmm," Artemis said. "What else don't I know about you?"

Wally shrugged. "Just as much, as I don't know about you." He said.

"Wally," she warned.

He smiled. "We'll figure this out." He said. "No one says we have to do it quickly."

* * *

"Do you think it's her?" The boy asked the others.

One of the girls leaned forward to get a better view.

"Could be her," She said. "But who's the guy then?"

"Don't know," the boy said. "It definite not _you know who_."

"Speaking of _you know who_ , maybe we should pay him a visit." The other boy said. "Maybe he knows who is guy is."

* * *

 **please tell me what you think**

 **If you don't like it, I'll rewrite it**

 **But right now I want to sleep.**


	26. Chapter 26

**I was sick, but I got better.**

 **So you get a chapter**

* * *

Wally sat down on the couch.

"I suppose, I owe you guys an explanation."

"There is no need." Kaldor said. "We all have things we want to keep quiet."

"Yeah..." Wally said. "But I kind of lied to you."

Super boy raised an eyebrow.

"When?" Artemis said.

"Remember how we … shared our back stories?" He asked.

After looking at each other the others nodded.

"I … I lied..." he said and rubbed the back of his neck.

Artemis narrowed her eyes in a confused grimace. "What?"

Wally looked down. "I said that I … found out that my uncle Barry was flash and wanted to become his sidekick … that was a lie..."

"Why would you lie about something like that?" Robin asked.

"Because if I told you the truth, I would have had to admit how smart I was." He just said.

"Who cares about that?" Zatanna. "So you're extremely smart, that doesn't matter."

Wally signed. "Maybe not, but you wouldn't have believed me anyway."

"Probably not." Raquel commented.

"Wait, if you didn't want to be Flash's sidekick, why did you get your powers." Super boy asked.

Wally rubbed the back of his neck and bit into his lower lib.

"I … did find out that my uncle was Flash, when I found his notes on the experiment, but instead of wanting to be his sidekick, I wanted to cure cancer." He said.

"Cure cancer?" Zatanna said, clearly not believing him.

He just nodded.

"I thought that his ability to heal could be used to fight it, but as I was trying to extract the molecules, it blew up in my face." He shrugged. "I ended up telling him, I did it because I wanted to be his sidekick."

Robin signed. "It still doesn't make any sense."

Wally looked up. "I know, but it's the truth."

* * *

His phone biped.

Lea and Hero wanted to video chat.

He sat down at his desk and turned on the computer.

"Hey, What's up?" Lea asked.

"Just told my team I have lied to them. What about you?"

"You're … superhero team?" Hero asked.

Wally rolled his eyes. "Yes..."

"How did you get your powers?" He asked, tapping his chin.

"You know that experiment with cancer treatment I tried … it went a little wrong."

"Still cool," he said.

"Did you lie about that to your friends too?" Lea asked.

He nodded. "They don't really understand lying about being smart."

"Not surprisingly," Hero said and played with a pencil. "We are three extremely smart people, normal people are a little like goldfish, they can't comprehend what's going on."

"This coming from the guy, who spends most his time in his lab making toys?" Lea said with a knowing smile.

"What do you mean." He said irritated.

"Anyway," she said. "Have you looked at Lex Luthors files yet"

He shook his head. "No."

"Wally," Hero said, completely serious. "Why do I get the feeling, you know why Luthor was building the war machine? And what he was up to?"

Wally signed. It had been a really long day.

"I don't exactly know what going on, or why he wanted to build that thing. That's why I wanted the files, but … Luthor is in this group of … bad people..."

"And you can't tell us more?" Hero said.

"No," he said. "It's suppose to be a secret."

Before Hero could say anything, Lea smiled.

"We understand," she said. "If Luthor tries to contact us, or we hear anything, we'll let you know."

"Thanks," he said with a smile. "I appreciate it."

Then the videocall was disconnected.

He leaned back in his chair and signed.

So far these last few months had been one problem after another. First The Light, then Ra's al Ghul kidnapped him and Lia, Then he introduced Artemis to Lia and they didn't like each other. He signed. They couldn't stand each other. Then he was kidnapped by Luthor with Lea and Hero, and of course then he had to explain everything to both sides, that he was both a superhero and genius.

He sat straight up again.

Should he tell Lia he was a superhero?

He knitted his brows together, he could explain it with his _genius club_ , as she called it.

It was probably best not to tell her, but he should thank her. If it wasn't for her, he and the others would still be working for Luthor.

Suddenly his bedroom door opened and his mother appeared in the opening.

"Wally, it's time for bed."

He smiled at her.

He was getting a bit sleepy.

"Okay, goodnight." he said and turned off the computer.

* * *

"What do you think?" One of the boys said proudly and spread his arms out wide.

"Well..." One of the girls said, as she walked through the room. "It's abandoned, it's spacious..." She picked up an old fast food bag. "It's dirty and smelly and lacks our basic necessities..." Then she stopped at a big window. "And it has a great view." She turned to the others. "It's perfect for us."

"Good," The other boy said and slid down along the wall. "But we still need some things … right."

"You okay?" The girl asked from the window.

"I'm so thirsty I think I'm withering." He said, barely keeping his eyes open.

"That reminds me, we don't have so much as couch to sleep on. What are we suppose to do?" The girl asked.

"Leave that to us," the other girl said, as she came out of the shadows.

"Me and my brother were taught in the dark arts." She said and walked towards the boy still standing proudly in the middle of the room. "Creating our basic necessities shouldn't be to much trouble."

The girl, still standing by the window nodded.

"I the mean time, I see about getting us something to eat."

"Remember to cover your face," The boy, sitting by the wall, almost coughed, in a tone a parent might have when speaking to their child.

* * *

 **If it's not good, it probably because my fever hasn't gone down yet.**

 **Please tell me what you think...**


	27. Chapter 27

**I'm lazy today**

 **but you still get a chapter**

* * *

She took a big gulp of her glass of milk.

"So … how is Wally?" Her mother asked.

She took a spoonful of cereal.

"Good..." She just said.

Her mother smiled knowingly. "Why am I sensing a but?"

Artemis signed.

"It just kind of … I don't really know him at all." She said and took another spoonful cereal.

Her mother made a snorting sound, like she bit back a laugh.

"What do you mean?"

Artemis pushed away her cereal, frustrated.

"I mean, I didn't know he had two rich friends, who are incredible smart, and that he is one of the smartest people in the world. But Lia knows everything!" She said.

Her mother raised an eyebrow.

"So it really just bothers you that another girl knows more about him that you do?" She asked with a gentle smile.

She balled her hands into fist and bit down on her lib.

Her mother reached across the table.

"Artemis … you have to understand that people have relationships with others. Wally didn't start living when he meet you, he existed before he meet you. And I know it can be difficult, but there are other people, other girls before you." She said and laid a hand on stop of her daughter's.

Artemis shook her head. "It's not that … Why is Lia always there? He's spending today with her!"

Her mother took a breath. "Aren't you doing homework with him after school?"

Artemis froze for a second, then nodded.

"And she is doing homework with him today?" Her mother asked.

She nodded again.

Her mother drank the rest of her coffee and turned her wheelchair around and rolled over to the kitchen sink and started doing the dishes.

"I can tell you how to handle this," she said. "I think it's best you figure it out with Wally."

She stirred her cereal. "Did you ever have problems like this … with dad?"

Her mother froze for a second, then continued washing and drying the dishes.

"You know..." she said after a while. "Your dad and me … it's a very … different relationship..."

Artemis cringed. She shouldn't have asked.

Her mother continued. "It _was_ not like your romance with Wally."

Artemis raised an eyebrow at her mother's use of the word 'romance'.

"Actually..." her mother continued, but were interrupted by the door opening.

"Hey, Miss." David said. "I'm going to the store. Do you need anything?"

"Yeah, I was actually about to go there." Artemis said and got up.

"Cool, we can go together." He said.

"Remember your jacket," Her mother said as the door slammed behind her.

* * *

Lia looked at him.

"Tell me," she said and narrowed her eyes.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's complicated."

She leaned forward. "Who's LL?" She whispered in a dark tone.

"How did we do on our Chemical crystal project?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"We got A+s!" She said in a stern voice. "Now. What happened with the genius club?"

He signed. "Do you trust me?"

"What?" She said confused.

"Do you trust me Lia?" He repeated.

"Yes, of course..."

"Then..." he started. "Can you trust me enough to understand, that everything is okay? And that I can't tell you even though I want to?"

She looked very confused.

"Does this have something to do with Ra's al Ghul?" She asked.

"What? Why would you think that?" He asked.

She turned stiff for a moment, then just shrugged. "I guess, I just thought it had something to do with our kidnapping."

Wally fell back on the bed. "It kind of sad, that you have to specify which kidnapping you mean."

Lia smiled down at him and let herself fall back on the bed, so they laid face to face.

"Well," she said. "You are a really smart guy."

Instead of answering Wally signed and sat up.

"Did I say something wrong?" She asked, as she sat up and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder.

He looked at her hand for a moment, and shrugged it of.

"No..." he said and ran hand through her hair. "I'm just really tired of being reminded of that all the time."

"I can understand that..." she said. "Sorry..."

He gave her a weak smile and picked up the social studies book.

"Want to continue doing homework?"

* * *

"We have heard about your … misfortune." Vandal Savage said.

Lex Luthor almost grinned his teeth. "Those three children destroyed everything, the war machine, my databases. They managed to destroy it all."

"It seems a lot of damage for three children." Queen Bee said in a condescending tone.

"Considering those three children could run circles around Luthor, I think they are worth something." Ra's al Ghul said. "The boy with the red hair was the one that started project Red X." Luthor raised an eyebrow.

"Did you pay him?"

Ra's al Ghul smiled. "No, and I managed to get a hold of his notes."

Vandal cleared his throat. "We'll of course help you get back on track."

"What about le garçon?" The brain asked.

"We'll leave him alone for now." Vandal Savage said. "He might be useful down the line."

* * *

"How are you doing?" She asked, as the boy was getting out of the bathtub.

"Better..." he said, as he carefully took the first couple of steps.

"I think you should take it easy for the first couple of days..." She said gently and held out a hand as he stumbled.

He almost growled at her hand and leaned up against the wall instead.

"So I'm the baby now?" He asked, as he struggled to keep himself upright.

"No one's calling you a baby?" She said and took hold of his arm, when he was about to fall over.

"But you are pretty weak right now..."

"I just need to get … hydrated..." He gasped, as she guided him to the couch.

"And you will," the other boy said, coming out off the shadows. "But for the time being, it's best if you stay here."

"He's right." The girl said. "You shouldn't strain yourself too much. This _did_ happen because of us."

"I didn't … want to stay … either..." he mumbled as they helped him to the couch.

"That's true," the other girl said, as she came in through the window. "But we didn't have to sustain from drinking 8 liters of water, even though it keeps us alive."

"They would have been able to find us..." he whispered.

After a few seconds they heard him snore.

"Did he just fall asleep?" The girl, who'd just come in through the window, asked.

"Yeah..." the other one said.

"But I got dinner!"

"Let him be," the boy said. "His whole body was breaking down, it probably has to build itself up again."

She shrugged. "He probably wouldn't have eaten it anyway."

* * *

"What are you looking at?" He asked Batman.

Batman turned around to the him and gestured to the screen.

"Ahh," he said. "You're concerned about the … Hoods? It's that what they are calling them now?"

"In the last few weeks there have been a lot of sightings of these people in StarCity. And I have a feeling it's linked to this..." He said and the screen changed and showed a large, prison-like building.

Flash leaned in. "Isn't that … that orphanage, for the children of prisoners of Belle Reve?"

Batman nodded. "A few teenagers ran away from there about a month ago."

Flash glanced at Batman. "You plan on sending the kids on this mission?"

* * *

She signed and laid back on the bed. It had been a long day.

Suddenly her phone beeped.

It was Wally.

 _I've been thinking about you all day Arts ;)_

She smiled.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think...**

 **it's nice to hear**


	28. Chapter 28

**I have some free time soon**

 **So you get a chapter**

* * *

"Team we have a new mission for you," Batman said, as he came into the cave.

They all gathered around him.

He pushed a button on the controls and a picture of a building appeared in midair.

"A few weeks ago someone broke out of the Precious Child orphanage..."

Wally felt Artemis tense next to him.

He gave her a confused look.

Aqualad saw it too.

"Why would someone break out of an orphanage?" He asked.

"This particular orphanage is for the children of Belle Reve's prisoners." Batman explained. "This corresponds with sighting's in Star City of a group of teenagers, called the Hoods."

"Yeah …" Wally said and gave Artemis confused side glances, as she still was very tense. "I've heard about them on the news."

"Your mission is to go to the orphanage, find out who is missing and bring them back."

Robin rubbed his chin. "Do you think The Light is involved?"

"We have no evidence of that," Batman said.

"Okay, we'll get on it..." Robin said and they started towards hangar.

"Are you okay?" Wally asked Artemis, as they walked.

"Yes … I … I know about that … place..." Her voice shook.

He was about to ask if she was okay again, but instead he just touched her arm.

"I really don't want to talk about," she said.

"Okay..."

* * *

The light shined in his eyes.

"We really need to do something about that window..." he mumbled and turned on his side and pulled the blanket over his eyes.

"Well … it's a great view..." the girl sleeping along the wall said, not even opening her eyes.

"And a good alarm clock."

"This concept of time really isn't what it's made out to be." The girl lying on the bed next to the boy said.

"What time is it?" The girl sleeping along the wall asked, as she sat up.

"It's late in the afternoon..." the boy said from under his blanket.

"We should get up then," the girl next to him said.

She sat up in bed and swung her legs over the edge, pulling the blanket away from the boy, because they were holding on to each other's hands.

The other girl, sitting on the bed along the wall, stood up and did a cartwheel.

"Ahh," she said smiling. "Now I'm ready for the day."

"Morning people..." the boy mumbled irritated and sat up, clearly _not_ ready for the day.

The smiling girl went over to the bathtub, where the other boy was still sleeping.

"Thorn," She said, dipping her hand into the cold water to shake him awake. "Time to get up."

The boy tensed for a second, then opened his eyes slowly.

She pulled her hand out of the water and shook it dry, so the water dripped all over the floor. "How are you feeling?"

The boy stretched his arms above his head. "Like a water lily."

"Does that mean you're good?" The other boy asked.

"Yeah," Thorn said and got out of the tub, his clothes dripping all over the floor. "I feel great."

"That's good," the other girl said and rubbed her eyes. "Now … who's getting breakfast?"

"We aren't," the boy, she was holding hands with, said. "We spent a lot of energy last night."

"I don't have anything to … do it with." Thorn said.

The girl standing next Thorn signed. "What do you want?"

"Just some bread," the other girl said, as she and the other boy stood up, still holding hands.

The girl nodded and took a black hoodie hanging off her bed and put it on, pulling the hood over her head.

"Try not to steal too much." The other girl said.

She just nodded and left.

"Is telling her not to steal, tragic irony?" The boy, still half asleep, asked.

* * *

"Ohn..." Superboy said. "How did you manage to make them let us in?"

"I told them, we're doing an important paper on wards of the state." Robin said and adjusted his sunglasses.

"Still pretty incredible." Wally commented and weaved his fingers into Artemis'.

Suddenly the door opened.

"Amanda Waller!" Wally said confused, and added after she shot him a look. "I thought you were the warden of Belle Reve."

She didn't answer, but she was clearly not happy, as she lead them in.

"So … this is a special orphanage from what I understand?" Robin Said.

Waller nodded and lead them to an elevator.

"When we find children of Supervillains, we take them here so that they can learn to become a part of society." She explained as they all got in.

"I thought it was only the children of prisoners in Belle Reve," Aqualad commented.

"Officially yes," she started, as the elevator stopped at a higher level and they followed her out. "But we think it's best to help as many children as we can."

"And you do?" Artemis said, not buying it.

Waller looked at her over her shoulder.

"Why don't you take a look at them?" She asked and gestured to a rail in front of them.

They slowly stepped closer and saw the cafeteria below.

It was filled with children and teenagers in orange jumpsuits.

"You're taking care of them?" Artemis asked in disbelief and pointed at the crowd below.

The older woman smiled smugly. "Yes, they are very well looked after."

"Is that why you put inhibitor collars on them?" Kid Flash asked and leaned over the rail to get a better look.

"He's right," Miss Martian agreed. "This looks like a miniature version of Belle Reve."

"How do you know what Belle Reve looks like?" Waller asked with arms crossed.

Kid Flash didn't even blink. "Do you realize how much information on that place can be seen on the internet?"

Waller just narrowed her eyes at them.

Aqualad glanced at the people below. None of them had noticed them.

"How normal is … their life here?" He asked.

"They have lessons instead of going to school, but in everything else they have an as normal life as they can get."

Robin and Kid Flash shared a knowing glance.

Robin's nod was nearly invisible.

Suddenly a loud bang could be heard from the cafeteria below.

They all looked down.

A boy had thrown another boy through the cafeteria.

"What did you just say!" He yelled.

The other kids in the room sat silent and stiff. One girl held her fork in midair, like she had been frozen in time.

They were scared.

"So you're deaf, huh?" The other boy yelled back. "I said, that your … aahh!"

He was cut off, when the collar shot electric shock through both boys.

"And that is the way you normally discipline them?" Kid Flash asked with a smug smile.

"You must understand that when children have superpowers, they are very hard to control." Waller explained, it almost seemed like the fight had calm her down a bit.

"So you treat them like prisoners?" Superboy asked.

"What did they do to get treated that way?" Miss Martian followed up.

Artemis looked over the rail.

Two men dressed as guards had come in and dragged off the two boys.

"I have to protect the public." Waller said in a low voice. "That a bunch of naive teenagers doesn't understand the danger of letting children with superpowers and criminal connections walk around."

Aqualad cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should return at a later date, when we need to take a closer look?"

"Yeah…" Kid Flash agreed. "I think that's a good idea too."

Not even five minutes later they were standing outside.

"So, how are you feeling?" Wally asked Artemis.

She turned to him. "I'll be happy, if I never set foot in there again."

"Have you ever … _been_ in there before." M'gann asked carefully.

"No," she said. "But I have heard a lot about it, people who were put there … dad used to threaten me with sending me there, if I didn't do what he said."

"Well..." Wally said uncomfortably. "That aside, did you get it, Rob?"

Robin didn't answer, but held up a flash drive, smiling.

"When did you do that?" Artemis asked.

"When the fight broke out. With this we should be able to find out, who broke out." He said and turned the flash drive between his fingers.

* * *

 **I properly won't update next week, but you can still tell me what you think :)**


	29. Chapter 29

**I've had a bad couple of days**

 **You get a chapter**

* * *

Wally clicked away at his computer.

No matter what, the Light's plans didn't make sense to him.

He couldn't get Hero and Lea involved, but Robin...

Then his phone rang.

"Wally," he just said, when he picked up the phone.

"I've hacked the flash drive," Robin said.

Wally stood up. "Do we need to come in?"

"Yeah … this could be bad, like really bad." Robin said.

Wally looked at his computer with the Light's data.

He shook head. "I'll call Artemis and Rocket."

"See you at the cave," Robin said and disconnected the call.

Wally signed, not knowing why.

Why hadn't he told Robin about the data Lea had gotten from the the Light? It wasn't like he had anything to hide anymore, and it wouldn't do anyone any good if he didn't tell anyone.

He shook his head and pulled on his jacket.

* * *

She came into the room, expecting to see Thorn sleeping in the bathtub, but he was gone.

She dropped the bag of food.

"Thorn?" She called.

There was no answer.

She turned around and looked down the long, dark hallway. And started walking down it slowly.

"Thorn...?" She called again.

Where could he have gone? Shouldn't he still be to weak been dehydrated for days to go outside hte room … now that she thought about it … where were the others? Shouldn't they still be here?

Suddenly there came an odd sound from behind a closed door.

She pushed open the door slowly. "Thorn?" She called out again.

There was nothing there.

She shook her head. If they were playing some kind of a joke on her...!

She looked around, there was no one there...

"What are you doing?"

She turned around on her heel in fear.

She suddenly stood face to face with a person with glowing yellow eyes without pupil.

"Whisper!" She said relieved.

"Why are you sneaking around?" Whisper asked.

"Why are you hanging upside down from the ceiling?" She asked and looked up.

Whisper followed her gaze to her feet, which stood perfectly on the ceiling. It almost seemed like if she jumped she would fall down.

She looked down at her friend. "I'm not really sure."

Then she turned her head slightly, like she hadn't realized that her hair was hanging down towards the floor.

"Was there something you wanted?" She asked, as she rolled a lock of her hair between her fingers.

"Do you know were Thorn is? I can't find him." The other girl said.

"Yeah, he wanted Wolf to expand the glamour around the building, so it covered the back alley..." she said and looked around confused. "How do you suppose I get down?"

Instead of answering the other girl rubbed her chin. "So him and Wolf are outside in the alleyway? … Wait, then why are you inside?"

"I'm not really sure … I think I was asleep." She said. "Why are you so concerned about Thorn?" The other girl just rolled and walked passed her.

"You could at least help me down first, Ace!" Whisper yelled after her.

* * *

"Thorn, Whisper, Wolf and Ace." Robin read aloud.

"Is that their real names?" Super boy asked confused.

"According to the files, yes." Robin said, while he read trough the rest of the files.

"They must have some really weird parents." Rocket said.

"Thorn is the son of Poison Ivy, Wotan is the father to Whisper and Wolf and Ace is the daughter of the Joker."

Wally spit out the water he'd been drinking.

"The Joker? Seriously?"

Artemis bite into her lip.

"Are you okay?" Zatanna asked and stepped closer to her.

"Do you … do you know them?" Kaldor asked.

"I have meet Thorn and Ace once or twice, but I've only heard about the twins." She said and rubbed her hands together.

"The twins?" Rocket asked.

"Whisper and Wolf, they're twins, no one has ever really seen them..."

Robin nodded, without taking his eyes off the computer screen.

"It says that the two of them was taken in after they used some kind of magic to hypnotize an entire nightclub. Ace seemed to have been taken, after she was left behind at one of the Joker's hideout."

"And Thorn?" M'gann asked.

"Says here, he attacked some people in a park." Robin read.

"And we're sure they're dangerous?" Kaldor asked.

"I'll say we are." Rocket commented.

Wally glanced at Artemis, who seemed very uncomfortable about the whole thing. "Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"You don't have to do this, if you don't want to." Zatanna said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"No, it's fine. It's not like I knew them that well." She said. "I'm going to get something to drink."

They all watched her closely as she walked to the kitchen.

"If she didn't know them that well, why does it bother her." Superboy asked.

* * *

"Thorn!" She yelled, as she came out the backdoor.

"Yeah?" He asked and got up.

She stopped in her tracks. "What are you doing?"

"Do you like it?" He asked and gestured to grass. "I grew it from some grass sticking out of the concrete."

"An the apple tree?" She asked, still stunned about the garden in front of her.

"I found a discarded apple core in a trash bin, want an apple?" He asked and reached up to a thick branch with and apple, which lowered it self to he could get it. Then he handed the apple to her.

She took it and looked at it suspiciously.

"You made all of this, while I was out for an hour or two?" She asked and gestured to the garden.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I figured we could be somewhat frugal, and since I'm still a little off, this is kind of my only way to help."

She nodded slowly and took a bite of the apple. "I guess you're right, just … don't overexert yourself."

"Careful Ace, you're crossing the line from friendly concern to a lover's unneeded worry." A voice said behind her.

She turned around.

"Would you two stop doing that!" She growled.

Wolf smiled at her. "Whisper did the same thing to you?"

He seemed amused.

She shook her head. "Where were you anyway?"

"I found Cameron." He just said.

"Why did you go at night?" Thorn asked as he made a flower grow with a circular motion with his hand. "Wouldn't it be easier during the day?"

"Unlike us most people move around in the daylight, it's easier at night when they're sleeping." Thorn looked up at clear night sky. "Yeah, and it makes it easier for us to hide our … unique appearance."

"Did you talk to him?" Whisper asked from the still open backdoor.

"No, not yet." He said. "Or Artemis..."

Ace nodded.

"We should be careful, I don't know about Artemis, but Cameron have never been able to keep his mouth shut."

"She's right," Thorn said and picked another apple. "We wouldn't want to attract any parental attention."

* * *

 **I hope you like it**

 **I** **don't know how often I'll be able to update, but I'll try to keep it weekly, but it might be hard with my schoolwork.**

 **But Ill try...**


	30. Chapter 30

**I made it just in time ... sign**

 **and you get a chapter.**

* * *

"So we're basically just going to wander around until we find something?" Artemis over the mind-link.

"Yes..." Both of them heard Kaldor say.

Wally laugh.

"At least we only have to be here for two more hours before we call it a day." He said and stretched his arms out wide.

"We've already been out here an hour..." Artemis said exhausted.

"And we'll be home two seconds after we're done." Wally said as he let a hand glide along the alley wall. "Everything seems normal..." he commented.

"Star City isn't that big, if they were here, we would have found them by now." Artemis said. "They would have moved on by now..."

Wally suddenly froze and turned around.

"Why?" He asked.

Artemis took a step back, a little turned off by the serious look in her eyes.

"Why what?"

"Why would they have moved on by now?"

"Oh?" She just said. "Because now people are looking for them, they have to know by now that they are the ones the media calls _the hoods_ , their only option is to get lost if they don't want to be caught."

Wally rubbed his chin.

"Not bad," he said and turned around again. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

Artemis shrugged. "Just like common knowledge, I guess."

"With your kind of background … yes, it probably is." He said.

He turned around and caught the fist right before it hit his face.

"And I thought we had made progress," he said with a smile.

She bit her lip in anger and let her arm fall down to her side.

"Wait!" Wally suddenly said. "That's it!"

"What's what?" Artemis asked confused.

"You're background is more or less like theirs, right?"

She signed. "Wally, I already told you have them some of them maybe once or twice, I don't know them."

"No, I know that." Wally said fast. "But did your parents teach you everything about being an assassin yet?"

"No?" She said with a raised eyebrow.

"And why is that?" He asked with a smile.

"Because I'm not with my dad anymore?" She said confused.

"Precisely!" He said enthusiastic. "And just like you're not around your dad anymore, they haven't been around their _evil_ parents for a while, maybe even a long time."

Artemis shook her head in confusion. "What's your point?"

Wally leaned forward with a knowing smile.

"Just like you don't know all about being assassin, they probably don't know much about being super villains." He explained.

Artemis finally got what he was saying.

"So they wouldn't know to skip town." She concluded.

"Exactly," Wally said.

"So what does this mean for our search?"

"Apart from we need to get out of this ally, because I've already searched it? That we need to keep searching!"

Artemis just signed.

* * *

"You got top bunk? That's so … summer camp."

He was bolted awake by the voice.

He slowly turned his head to the left and saw the bluish white skin and yellow eyes with no pupils, glowing in the dark like a nightlight.

"I know you..." he whispered, scared and shocked.

"Wolf," the boy reminded him.

He just looked down to the lower bunkbed.

"He's asleep, and no one else can see me in here." The boy explained.

He just sat up slowly, very slowly.

"What do you want?" He asked.

Wolf shrugged. "Just talk it's been a while … Cameron."

"Yes..." he just said. "A few years, I think."

"For you maybe, me and Whisper have kept an eye on you from our dimension."

With the mention of her name Cameron looked around the room.

"She's not here." Wolf said. " It's just me."

"You decided to separate?" He asked in what was suppose to be a joke.

Wolf didn't answer him.

"You're still following your dad like a little lost puppy?" He asked instead and looked around.

"I'm not!" He said irritated.

"Then why are you here, Cameron?" Wolf asked.

"Aren't why are you here a better question?" He asked angry.

"I have a … offer, I guess you can call it, for you."

"What?" He asked confused.

"Well..." He shrugged. "The accommodations aren't as good as this place."

"What in world are you taking about?" He asked.

"Me and Whisper, as long as Poison Ivy's kid and the Joker's daughter kind of ran away from Precious Child and are living in hiding."

"From what?"

Wolf shrugged. "Everything I guess, our parents, the orphanage, the police and the media is kind of hunting us now."

"And you want me in on that?" Cameron asked confused.

"Pretty much," he said with a smile.

"No thanks," He said.

Wolf rubbed his chin.

"Artemis has moved on from her dad." he said.

"How do you know about Artemis?" He said angry and irritated.

"I told you, we've kept an eye you..." Wolf said. "Do you know that she's got a boyfriend now."

"What?" He snapped at him.

"I'm really glad you're wearing that inhibitor collar," Wolf comment.

"Can you just leave?" He said and laid down on his bed again.

Wolf shrugged again.

"Our offer still stands, remember that. Icicle junior."

Then he was gone.

* * *

"How much longer?" She asked tired.

"About ten minutes," he said. "Give or take a few."

"Why are you staring at that building?" Artemis asked.

Wally looked around at the other buildings, while rubbing his chin.

"I've been in Star City a while for a mission, after that I hung out with Roy." He explained. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think we went by here. And this building was run down."

"Maybe it was just restored." Artemis shrugged.

"Yeah," Wally said and walked down the alleyway. "But I think we should check it out."

Artemis signed, but followed him.

As they walked down the alley, both of them suddenly felt like they passed through … something...

"What was that?" Artemis asked.

"Don't know," Wally said. "What's that?"

He pointed to some trees that had appeared in the alley.

"Who are you?" Suddenly a boy appeared between the trees.

A boy with green skin.

* * *

 **Sorry that it's not that long, I was a little pressed for time.**

 **and I would an explanation on why Poison Ivy can't have kids.**

 **But ... enjoy and tell me what you think :)**


	31. Chapter 31

**I'm tired.**

 **but you get a chapter.**

* * *

"I hope the mind-link is up." Wally whispered to himself.

 _M'gann!_ He thought. _Can you hear me?_

A terrible few seconds went by.

 _Yes,_ she answered. _Did you find them?_

 _Yeah! Get over here now!_

The boy leaned his head to the side and looked at them confused.

"Who are you?" He asked and took a step towards.

"Stay back!" Artemis said with her bow drawn.

The green boy blinked confused and took a step back.

"Who are you?" He asked again, this time he sounded a little scared.

Wally narrowed his eyes.

This guy was odd. He seemed a little off and confused, but not dangerous.

How should they handle this?

"Where are the others?" Artemis asked.

The boy looked at her.

"Why...?" He asked, he sounded sleepy. "Have you come to take us back?"

"We're not really sure about that, but we are taking you in." Wally said.

"So, you're going to make us move out of this house?" The boy asked.

"Well, yeah..." Wally said. There was definitely something weird about him.

He nodded and suddenly got a sharp look in his eyes.

"I can't allow that." he said.

He moved his hand forward, like he was pushing something.

Two thick roots shoot out of the concrete and wrapped themself around their ankles.

Artemis took an arrow out of her quiver stabbed the root.

The boy screamed in pain, while his pressed his hands against his ears.

"You have no respect nature!" He screamed.

The roots crawled up their legs and wrapped around their arms.

"I have this odd feeling you shouldn't have done that." Wally said, after he lost his balance and fell down.

"Shut up." She snapped through grinded teeth.

"Nrub eht stnalp!" They heard from behind them.

Then the roots bursted into flames and retreated from them.

"You guys okay?" Robin asked.

"Yeah..." Artemis said and got up.

"He's one of them?" Robin asked and nodded på the green boy, who seemed to be convulsing in pain.

"Is he okay?" Zatanna asked.

"No..." Wally said and got up. "And I have a feeling you _really_ shouldn't have done that..."

* * *

"What do you think of the kitchen?" Whisper asked.

"It's better than nothing." Ace said and chopped up some vegetables and put them in boiling water.

Whisper stepped closer and observed the other girl with interest.

"How _did_ you learn to cook?" She asked.

Ace shrugged. "My mom taught me, not much, but enough for me to survive."

"Mom...?" Whisper said, like she had never used that word before. "What are those like?"

"You and Wolf don't have one?" Ace asked over her shoulder, while she stirred the pot.

"We have and then we don't," Whisper said thoughtfully. "Not that _it_ came around much."

"So you have problems with both your parents?"

Whisper didn't answer.

Instead she looked around the room, curiously.

"What is it?" Ace asked and turned around to look at her.

"Someone entered our barrier." She said and looked up towards the ceiling.

"I thought we're safe." Ace said.

"We're, but it would take to much energy to uphold a barrier no one can enter." Whisper explained.

"Not to mention it would be suspicious, if people couldn't get near a building." Wolf commented as he appeared behind his sister. "But what we should be focusing on right now, is that someone have broken in and are irritating Thorn."

"Irritating him?" Ace asked.

"Their hurting the plants."

"That could get out of hand fast." Whisper said. "And we have no idea who the intruders are."

"Well, then." Ace said and removed the vegetable filled pot from the stove. "Let's find out."

* * *

"Why did you do it?!" He screamed with his hands tightly pressed against his ears.

"What's his problem?" Rocket, who had just arrived with Aqualad, asked.

"I think, it has something to do with the plants." Wally said.

"Well … I don't think there's a doubt, that he's Poison Ivy son." Robin said.

"No," Aqualad said. "But now we need to figure out, what to do."

Miss Martian landed behind them.

"Superboy will be here in a minute," she said. "What did..."

Suddenly thick roots shoot up all around them.

"You are so loud!" The boy said angrily.

"Well, I'm guessing the plan so far is getting out of here?" Wally asked.

"Sound good." Artemis said and shoot an arrow at the plant cage.

The roots got burned and moved out of the way.

"Thorn!" They suddenly heard someone call.

The green boy locked around, and suddenly three other teenagers stood beside him.

"Who are they?" One of the two girls asked.

"Don't know..." Poison Ivy's son said, returning to his former sleepy behavior. "But they want … to have us in..."

"Yeah, that's bad." The other boy said. "But … calm down."

One of the girls narrowed her eyes at them.

"I know you," she said and pointed at Artemis. "You're Sporstmaster's daughter."

"Yeah, now that you mention it." The other girl said and leaned on the boy who resembled her. "It is her. Artemis … right?"

Artemis tensed.

Wally put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why are you playing superhero?" The male twin asked. "Don't you live with your dad?"

"Not that this isn't very interesting, but How about we get you back to where you belong?" Robin asked.

"So you're going to help us?" The twins said, almost in unison.

"What?" Zatanna asked.

"Burning my plants aren't a way to help us." The green boy commented.

"What do you mean with helping you?" Aqualad.

"Well … you said you wanted to take us to where we belong, correct." The female twin said.

Artemis and Wally looked at each other confused, but Wally nodded in the end.

"Then you'll not take us back to the orphanage, because we don't belong." The male twin asked.

"This is really creepy." Wally commented.

"We understand that you must be in some distress over being there, we've seen it ourselves, but nonetheless you have to go back, you can't stay here." Aqualad explained.

"No," the male twin said with his eyes glowing yellow.

"You can't stay here!" The twins said in unison.

* * *

Suddenly they all stood on the street outside the alley.

"That was weird." Robin said.

"What do we do now?" Zatanna asked. "I doubt we can just go in there again."

"We'll figure something out." Wally said. "But right now, we should figure out what we should tell Superboy, when he finds out that he won't get to fight."

* * *

"Something interesting?" Queen Bee asked.

"It seems the children have found a distraction." Vandal Savage said.

"Why are we meeting about this?" The Brain asked.

"Their distraction are Joker, Poison Ivy and Wotan's children." Ra's al Ghul explained.

"Interesting," Queen Bee commented.

"Should we interfere with this distraction to make them focus on that instead of our project."

"If nothing else it could be entertaining." Ra's al Ghul said.

* * *

 **I'm sorry nothing really happened, I'll write a better one next time.**


	32. Chapter 32

**It's a little early for an update today, but I have to get up early tomorrow and catch a train**

* * *

"Master, they're here." the kneeling shadow said, before it disappeared.

Ra's al Ghul looked up.

"Why have you summoned us here." Wotan asked.

Ra's al Ghul smiled and stood up from his chair.

"We have gotten information that the children have found _your_ children." He said.

"Our children?" Wotan sounded confused.

"Where is he?" Poison Ivy asked sternly. "Where is my son?"

The Joker smiled and tilted his head slightly. He didn't seem particularly interested in the news.

"The light was thinking, that if we gave you their location, you would do something for us." Ra's al Ghul continued.

"What would you have us do?" Wotan asked.

"To keep the children occupied and their attention away from the Light's affairs..."

"You needs us to wreak havoc!" The Joker laughed.

"More or less. Distract them from our activities and we'll turn a blind eye to what you do with your own children afterwards."

The Joker laughed menacingly. "This is going to be fun."

* * *

"Are you okay, Thorn?" Wolf asked, as he pulled up off the ground.

"Yeah..." he nodded, kind of distant.

Whisper looked towards the alley the group of superheroes had disappeared.

"How do you think they found us?" She asked.

Ace shrugged and lead a confused Thorn inside.

"It was probably a coincidence, none of them seemed particularly skilled at the magic arts." Wolf said and followed the others in.

"Do we have to leave?" Thorn asked.

Wolf and Whisper shook their heads simultaneously.

"No, if we reinforce the barrier they won't be able to find us." Wolf said.

"And they won't be able to get through it either." Whisper added.

"Good..." he slurred his words and stumbled towards the room with their beds. "I think, I'll go lie down in the tub..."

"Guess I'll go back to cooking," Ace said with a shrugged and walked down the hall.

The twins were left standing alone.

"Shall we begin work on a reinforced barrier?" Wolf asked and grabbed Whispers hand.

When he began walking, she just stood there.

He stopped and turned around. "What's the problem?"

She looked up at him with worried eyes. "Do you think, what we did was the right thing?" She asked.

"Leaving the orphanage? Yes, of course." He said.

She shook her head. "Before that..."

Wolf's eyes widen "You're talking about … that … yes, we are did the right thing. Why are we even talking about this now."

Whisper looked up towards the ceiling. "That … could break the barrier, even if we reinforce it." She said in a quiet voice.

Wolf pulled her into a hug. "I understand your fear, I'm probably the only one who can. But we haven't been found yet, we're not going to be found now. Besides we have Ace and Thorn on our side now."

Whisper put her arms around him, hugging him back. "Yeah, you're right."

They let go of each other.

"So...?" She asked. "Do you know how to reinforce a barrier like we described it to them?"

Wolf shook his head.

"No idea."

* * *

"Wally you have been staring at those pictures for an hour." Artemis said, tired, and threw a pillow from the couch at him.

Wally dodged the pillow.

"And you've been staring at that math equation for one and a half, and you still haven't figured it out." He said with a smug smile.

She slammed the math book down, her face red of anger or embarrassment, and threw a fist in his direction.

He caught it with a hand.

"And we haven't made progress on the violence front." He commented, while shaking his head.

"Do you have a theory about the … Hoods, oh smart one?" Rocket asked. "Or are you busy playing with your girlfriend."

Wally let go of Artemis and turned around on the couch so he was facing the others.

"Well, everyone of us that saw that orphanage can understand why they left..." he started.

"But they are dangerous." Zatanna pointed out.

"So is a pair of scissors, if you don't use them right." Wally said fast. "The point is that, even if they are dangerous with their powers, it's not helping when you add the treatment from the orphanage and teenage hormones, it doesn't exactly make it better."

"Your saying that they were driven to flee?" Aqualad asked.

"Pretty much."

"But aren't they pretty bad at running away, if they stay at one place?" Miss Martian asked.

"Yes and no," Wally said, while chewing on a pencil. "If these guys didn't have a … supervillain parent to guide them, they wouldn't know how to hide and get away correctly, right?"

"So … it's because their parents weren't around that they stay in Star City?" Zatanna asked.

"Maybe, but..."

"But?" Robin repeated.

"It is possible that they have … decided that they want to live there, and they simply live in that building together. And want to live without rules or any kind of authority."

"Do you mean that they're probably not dangerous?" Aqualad asked.

"It's a possibility."

"But they attacked us." Miss Martian said.

"We were threatening them with taking them back to the orphanage." Wally countered.

"So they're just living like normal teenagers?" Artemis asked confused.

"Not quite." Wally said and turned to her.

"Just like you still are very violent, they must have things that are hard to let go of."

"Why is that important?" She asked.

"Well, I'm thinking we want to speak to these guys again. And I doubt they'll just let us in after what happened yesterday."

"So?" Rocket asked.

Wally gave her a smile.

"Let's say for the theory's sake, that their habit they can't let go is stealing, then we find all the shops in the area of the building that have had theft occur or shoplifting and then keep them under surveillance." He explained.

"Why?" Superboy asked.

"If we work from the theory that they aren't well trained, they'll probably come back to try and steal something again."

Superboy lifted an eyebrow.

It seemed like Wally that just stunned them all with his plan.

"So..." Rocket said and looked around at the others. "Do we have a plan."

* * *

 **So should the Hoods meet their parents or the Team next?**

 **tell me what you think**


	33. Chapter 33

**I'm tired as hell,**

 **but you still get a chapter**

* * *

"I'm going! You can't keep using our magic, or we're going to have a problem and we can't live on Thorn's garden!" Ace said angrily.

"She has a point." Thorn said from the door, he was still dripping wet from lying in the bathtub. "We can't stay inside the barrier all the time."

"But we'll get too much attention, if we steal to much." Whispered said.

"What are we suppose to do?" Ace asked throwing her hands up. "Get a job?"

"With our faces?" Wolf said.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Ace asked with her hands on her hips.

Thorn laugh.

"Ace, you look like you powdered your entire face complete white, my skin is green and Whisper and Wolf's skin is blue and they have glowing eyes with no pupils. Isn't that the reason we use hoodies when we go outside."

Ace let out a sign and nodded.

"You seem to be back to your senses." Wolf commented with a small smile.

Thorn looked at him, then smiled.

"Yeah, I didn't know being so low no water, would make me zoombie-like."

"Just be careful, we only have each other after all." Whisper said quietly.

"Then … why don't we all go?" Ace asked.

"Is that the Joker gens talking?" Wolf asked.

"No, but wouldn't be safer if we all were there."

"She has a point..." Whisper said.

"But the barrier won't hold if we take too long," Wolf reminded them.

"We only need a few things," Ace said.

"Good, I'll get our hoodies." Thorn said.

"That reminds me..." Whisper said. "We should also get the last things we need for the spell."

"What spell?" Ace asked.

"We have been preparing a spell so we don't need the hoodies anymore." Wolf explained.

"We just need something to contain the magic." Whisper said finishing Wolf's sentence.

Thorn threw a hoodie at Ace.

She caught it in the air.

"Shall we go?" He said.

* * *

"Do you think this is going to work?" Zatanna asked over the com-link.

"Yeah, we've gotten two people posted at each of the stores there were shoplifted from, by teenagers in hoods." Wally said.

"Why what if they don't come?" Kaldor asked.

"They'll get hungry sooner or later," Robin explained. "If not today then tomorrow perhaps."

"Remember the plan," Wally reminded them through the com-link. "If anyone spots them alert the rest of us."

"Do you think this is going to go well?" Artemis asked, as she sat down on the edge of the building.

"What do you mean?" Wally asked and sat down next to her.

"What is it we are suppose to do with them anyway?" She asked.

"I'm thinking about talking to them, you know, figure out why they are here. Maybe helping them in some way?"

"They aren't going to be happy to see us." Artemis just said.

"That's probably everybody's opinion at first, remember how we first meet." He said putting an arm around her.

She smiled at the memory and leaned into him.

"How are we going to explain this to the League? With us helping them, I mean." She asked.

"I'm figure something out."

Artemis suddenly leaned forward.

"I think they're here..." She said.

Wally held onto her and followed her line of vision.

Two people in black hoodies were walking across the street.

"Guys we've found them," Wally said through com-link. "At least half of them."

The two people on the dark street parted ways and walked towards to different stores, one walked into the kiosk, they knew had been shoplifting from, the other one walked towards a jewelry store and stopped on the sidewalk and got down on a bended knee.

"What's he doing?" Wally asked.

"Let's wait till the others get here to find out." Artemis said.

The person in a hoodie just sat there on bended knee.

"Guys how far away are you?" Wally asked, he seemed to be itching to get down there to see what he was doing.

"No matter how far away they are..." Somebody said behind them.

They turned around and saw the guy with blue skin.

"They are too far away." His twin said, ending the first twin's sentence.

Artemis and Wally looked at each other not really sure what to do.

"You know I feel like you should have said something different," The male twin said to his sister.

"Different?" She asked.

"Yeah, like maybe: "They'll never get here in time", you pretty much just turned my line around."

"Yeah … I can see that." The sister agreed.

"Well, whatever you and your boyfriend are going to stay right there, at least until we say otherwise." The boy, Wolf, said.

"I thought, you didn't know these guys." Wally whispered.

"She doesn't," The girl, Whisper, said while smiling and leaning forward, towards them. "But we have been watching you for a while … when was the last time we hung out with Cam?"

"The last time?" Wolf said, while rubbing his chin. "We are about five or something like that, do you know he had a crush on you?"

Wally looked at Artemis and then looked towards the street.

"You distraction us," he said.

"He really is a smart one." Wolf commented.

"But you are still not going anywhere, you would spoil our plan." Whisper said with a smug smile.

"Are you going to push us over the edge?" Wally asked calmly.

"No," The boy asked. "But we do want you people to return to where ever you came from, or this could get ugly soon"

"I could say the same to you!"

* * *

 **Hope you like it.**

 **Tell me what you think, sorry it's so short.  
**

 **I don't know when I'll update again, but the next chapter is going very exciting**


	34. Chapter 34

**Sorry I updated a day (or two) late, but the muse had escape me.**

 **Here's the chapter**

* * *

The twins looked at them with big scared eyes and then turned, almost synchronously, to the deep voice behind them.

It was a tall, grown man, that had spoken, he looked almost like an older version of the male twin.

"Wotan!" Wally's whisper was so quiet, that it was almost like he had spoken at all.

The twins took a small step back.

There was silent on the rooftop for 5 seconds before the male twin spoke.

"What are you..." Then he stopped like he was lost for words. "...doing here?"

Wotan gave him a dissapointed look. "I was told that you were not where you where suppose to be!"

"Wait!" The girl exclaimed. "You didn't realise we were gone, until you were told? Not exactly..." she hesitated. "...parent of the year."

Wally and Artemis looked at each other, without making any sudden or fast movements.

They weren't sure what they were going to do, they hadn't considered that Wotan would show up.

"I told you never to leave the dimension!" Wotan almost scolded.

"Yes, yes you did say that." The girl confirmed.

Wally slowly turned towards the street, while the odd conversation were going on in front of them, like they weren't even there.

One of the hooded teenagers were still kneeling by the sidewalk, while the other were nowhere to be seen.

At the moment the hoods weren't their priority, they just needed to get away right now, and tell the others to stay away.

"Did you really think we were going to stay in a dimension, where we were the only people, forever?"

"I told you to stay!" Wotan repeated, like that was reason enough.

"And, as we have learned, teenagers don't always do what they're told." The girl said with a careful smile.

Wally gently touched Artemis' shoulder, and then, when she looked at him, pointed to the street below.

At first she looked confused, but then she got what he was trying to tell her and pulled out one of her trick arrows. Wally hoped it was one that could get them down fast, but now … how to make it silent.

"You will return to the dimension." Wotan demanded.

"No," the girl said, with a hint of fear.

"It's not like you can force us back there." the male twin.

"Wolf!" Wotan growled.

Wally reached up to Artemis' quiver and pulled out one of her sharp arrows.

Artemis opened her mouth to say something, but Wally shushed her silently.

And slowly and carefully he cut a piece of the leg off his costume of one leg, then he gave it to Artemis, who still looked at him confused, and cut a piece of the other leg.

Then he gave her the arrow and took the fabric she was holding, and placed the two pieces over each other and folded them together and wrapped them around the end of the trick arrow, while the three people were still agueing in front of them.

Artemis nodded and slowly took out her bow and put the arrow on the string.

In front of them Wotan had started chanting and the two teenagers yelled at him, when the wind started to pick up.

She pulled back the string and the arrow shot through the air towards the ground below. Leaving the end of the arrow with a wire attach.

When the arrow hit the ground it dug itself into it.

"You can't just force us to go back there." The girl yelled over the wind behind them.

Artemis took the part of the arrow, that was still stuck to the arrow, and clicked it onto the side of the rooftop beneath them.

The sound couldn't be heard over the strong wind behind them, but none the less the twins turned around and looked at them.

Their eyes were wide with fear, and almost begging for help.

Wally starred back at them, unsure if he should help them, or how he could.

Artemis hook her bow on the wire and held a hand out Wally.

He took it.

They glided down the wire and handled on there feet.

Suddenly a light flashed from the rooftop, they had just been on, and the three people were gone.

Wally blinked. "Guys are you on your way?" He then asked over the com-link.

"Yeah..." he heard Robin say. "Do you still have them in sight."

Wally turned around, the person that had been kneeling by the sidewalk was gone.

"No … something kind of happened." He said.

"Let's rendezvous back at the cave, and you can tell us." Kaldor said over the com-link.

"Yes," Wally agreed and turned the com-link off.

"Did you see the way they looked at us?" Artemis asked him.

He nodded. "Did you hear what they said?" He asked, but didn't wait for her to answer. "Whatever he wanted them to do, they didn't want to do it."

Artemis nodded in acknowledgement. "I wonder what they meant by _their_ dimension."

Wally looked around. "I wonder where the other two went, they probably ran as soon as they heard, _or saw_ , us."

"Wally, their not the bad guys." She said, like it made sense.

He smiled. "I know," He said and put his arm around her shoulder. "But I don't think they know, we not the bad guys."

* * *

Her shoes and pants were drenched by sewage water.

She stopped and looked up.

This had to be close enough.

She crawled up the ladder and pushed as hard as she could on the manhole cover.

It got loose and she could push it aside and get up.

She looked around.

She could see something familiar on the other side of the street.

She didn't have a clue about what had happen, but there had been a lot noise outside, she had gotten scared and dropped what she had in her hands and ran, when she had seen a manhole cover, it had almost instinct to jump down in it.

"Thorn?" She called. Then she knitted her brows, why had she called him? She should just go home, they were probably all already there.

"She pulled the hoodie as far down her face as she could and walked across the street.

She almost pulled off her hood i confusion.

The building looked … like it did before Wolf and Whisper glamoured it.

Had they been away to long? They couldn't be home, if the building was in that state, could they?

Suddenly a hand was placed on her shoulder.

She slowly turned her head, and signed in relief.

"Thorn you scared me." She breathed.

"Sorry," he said with a little smile and pointed towards the building. "Have you noticed that?"

"Yeah," she said, as they stepped closer. "What do you think happened to them?"

"They dissappeared. I saw it, they just dissappeared." He said, trying to keep calm. "I hope that they're okay."

"Did you get what they needed?" Ace asked. "I kind of just dropped everything and ran."

Thorn smiled and pulled four pieces of jewelry out of his sleeve. A necklace, a ring, a bracelet and a pair of earrings.

"Nice!" Ace said, as he slipped the jewelry back into his seelve. "So what exactly happened outside, do you know?"

"I'm not sure exactly." He said, as he led the way into the alley leading to their home. "There was something loud across the street, and there where four … or maybe five people on a rooftop on the other side of the street. Two of them came down onto the street by some kind of rope or something, and I ran."

Ace gasped behind him.

"I know, but I was scared. And suddenly there was this flash and..." Thorn stopped and looked at his garden. It felt weird, like it wasn't his garden. Something had changed, the grass, the trees, the flowers they didn't speak to them. Was he tired? What could have happened?

"Ace does something feel weird to you?" He asked as he turned around.

She wasn't there.

His eyes widen. How long hadn't she been there.

Suddenly the grass beneath his feet began to move, a branch wrapped itself around him.

He couldn't get them to move, they didn't listen to him.

"Hello sweety." He heard a light smilling voice said.

He looked up and she was standing there, in front of him.

"Mom!"

* * *

 **Tell me what you think.**

 **Sorry it took to long, my exams were really hard this time.**

 **I hope you like the chapter**


	35. Chapter 35

**And I'm back!**

 **And here's the next chapter**

* * *

The woman smiled, her eyes were shining.

She closed the distance between them and put her arms around him.

If he hadn't been restrained by the branches, he would have pulled away.

But she had him right where she wanted him.

"Thorn," she said in a motherly voice, and combed her fingers through his hair. "You really worried me, you should not have left, ever."

Her words were like a death sentence.

She let go of him and the branches loosened a little.

She looked at him for a few seconds, as he slowly and carefully pulled his arms out of the branches.

Then suddenly she grabbed at his hoodie and pulled at it, like she was trying to rip it off him.

"What are you doing?" He asked confused and took hold of his mother's wrist, trying to get her to stop.

"You shouldn't be wearing things like this!"

Thorn looked down himself.

"You mean clothes?" He asked confused and ran his hands down the branches, still restraining his legs.

"They are unnatural for you," she scolded.

He nodded sharply and looked down his mother.

Her body was covered by leafs and thin branches, that took the form of clothes, but he knew that they had grown from her body, just like leafs sometimes did with him. Was that what she meant?

He looked over her shoulder. No one was there.

"Where is Ace and the others?" He asked and pulled at his legs, unable to get free.

She waved her hand and the branches let him go.

He stumbled forward, but managed to catch himself.

"We were told, that if we did what they told us to, then we could do whatever we wanted with our children afterwards."

His eyes grew big. "Who?"

She put a hand on each side of her face.

"Don't worry, Mommy just have a little job to do."

* * *

"How many days has it been?" Rocket asked from the couch she was lying on.

"Two," Robin answered from the computer.

"What do you think happened to them?" Kaldor asked.

"I don't think they left willingly, if that's what you mean." Artemis said, she was sitting on the other end of the couch with a math book.

"I agree," Wally said. "The two twins were arguing with Wotan, wherever he took them, they didn't want to go."

"But what about the other two?" Kaldor asked. "You didn't see them after you got down on the street, right."

Wally shook his head.

"And as far as we know there hasn't been any more break ins or shoplifting incidents around where they were living." Robin explained.

"And the glamour they put around the building is gone," Zatanna added.

"So..." Miss Martian said. "They're just gone?"

"We should report to batman, then see what he thinks we should do."

"Do you want to know what I think?" Wally asked, as he leaned on the back of the couch, right behind Artemis.

Before anyone could answer him, he pointed to a question in her math book.

"That one is 36." He said. Then he turns around. "I think their parents got to them too, like Wotan did."

"But why just now?" Superboy asked.

Wally shook his head. "I don't know, maybe someone, fx the Light, found out what we were doing and sent their parents after them."

Superboy scratched his head. "How did they know what we were doing?"

Wally signed. "I don't know, it just a theory."

Artemis signed too and put down her book.

"Whatever happened to them, we have to decide what we're going to tell the league." She said and turned around on the couch, so she was facing Wally.

"She's right," Rocket said.

Wally opened his mouth, but then his phone rang.

He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen, then he looked at Artemis, then back at his phone and at Artemis again.

"I got to take this," he said and speed out of the cave.

"What was that?" Artemis asked, looking at the other girls for clues.

Zatanna shrugged. "Maybe more secrets."

Artemis' signed as she let her head fall back, exhausted.

"There has to be a limit to the secrets he can have, right?"

* * *

She woke up, confused and dizzy.

"What?..." She grunted, as she looked around and tried to figure out where she was.

Her head ached.

The last thing she remembered, she was walking behind Thorn, they had just been outside their home, but then...

Her arms were tied to her sides with thick rope.

She rocked back and forth, until she could finally sit up.

It looked like a kind of warehouse, but there was a poisonous smell.

It reminded her of one of her dad's hideouts.

Her dad! That had been him...

She suddenly heard a laugh, his hyena laugh, echoing through the warehouse.

"Where are you?" She asked and looked around, trying to spot him.

"You are always so glum, you should try to smile!" She heard him laugh and suddenly he just stood there in front of her.

She was stunned and scared.

When she didn't say anything, he reached down and pulled at her cheeks, pulling them up into a wide smile.

She had no idea what to do, and she had less of an idea of what he wanted with her. He had never been that interested in her before.

"We are going to have a little fun together, you and I." He said and continued to pull at her cheeks.

He must have seen the terror in her eyes, because he suddenly he let go and turned around.

"Why am I here." She asked.

He turned back around with a flask in his hand and a wide, crazy smile.

"There are such boring situations out there, we must gave them interesting."

She looked at him stunned. Did he really think she would help him?

"Sorry dad." She said, glad her voice didn't shake. "I'm not doing that."

He pulled the lid of the flask and held it to her noise.

"Of course, you will, you just need to laugh!"

Whatever was in that flask, it made her feel weird, dizzy.

Her dad, The Joker, was laughing.

She giggled.

She had no idea what was so funny, but for some reason she thought it was hilarious.

* * *

Wolf made an angry hand gesture towards the wall.

A yellow ball of light hit the wall, but nothing happened, like the wall just absorbed the ball of light.

"It's no use," Whisper said hopelessly from the couch she was lying on. "We can't get out."

"We got out before!" Wolf argued.

"Then _it_ didn't expect us to leave, now _it_ knows we want to leave, so now there are measures so we can never get out."

"So we should give up?" Wolf sneered at his sister, as he turned around to face her.

She stood up, irritated.

"Of course not, but wasting our energy in anger is not going to do us any good." She yelled.

Wolf signed.

"You're right," he breath. "But how can we get out, before we were in control of this dimension..."

"But _it_ took that away." Whisper concluded. "Our former home is now a prison."

"And our creator became our warden." Wolf finished.

Whisper closed the distance between them and knitted their hands together.

Both leaned their heads forwards, so they stood with their foreheads against each other, with their eyes closed.

The physical contact had a calming effect on both of them.

They breathed in sync.

"This place is like a spiderweb," Whisper said. "We can get in, but we can't get out."

Wolf looked up.

"What did you say?" He said with a hopeful smile.

"This house is like a spiderweb?" Whisper repeated confused.

"No, no," he shook his head. "The other part!"

"We can get in, but we can't get out?" She said, not understanding what he was going on about.

"That it!" He said, and continued when his sister gave him a weird look: "We can't get out, but maybe we can pull somebody in, that can help us!"

* * *

 **Tell me what you think.**

 **I want to go back to uploading every Wednesday, but we'll see How that goes :)**


	36. Chapter 36

**And I'm back! With a next chapter !  
**

 **Hope you like it.**

* * *

"So 18 multiplied by 3 is?" Wally asked, drawing out the question.

"54," Artemis said, after thinking about it for a second.

Wally smiled.

"That's correct, I think you are ready."

She signed relieved. "And we only had to study for a week..."

"Well..." Wally shrugged. "It was just in time for the midterms."

"Yeah..." She sounded like, she would rather forget about that. "One A and mom gets off my back."

Wally smiled. "You're really not scared of her at all, are you?"

Artemis let out a laugh. "Of course not, the woman's in a wheelchair, why would I be scared of her?"

Wally shrugged again. "Most people don't kill people with their feet."

She laugh. "No," she said and leaned into him. "I suppose they don't."

"Status report on the hoods." Robin said from the other side of the room.

Artemis quickly leaned away from Wally.

"Is that what we're calling them?" He said and turned around to look at Robin.

Artemis elbowed his ribs.

"Since you ran into them, they haven't been spotted since." Kaldor explained.

"Maybe they are laying low." Miss Martian said.

"So..." Rocket asked. "How do we … lure them out?"

"They'll get hungry some time," Wally laughed.

"Anyway," Zatanna said and yawned. "It's getting late, maybe we should call it a day."

Robin nodded.

"Let's pick this up again next weekend." Kaldor said.

"Want me to walk you home?" Wally asked Artemis.

She rubbed her eyes and nodded.

"At least I will get home fast." She smiled.

* * *

"Not this one," Whisper said and flung another book down from the shelf.

She took another one and flung it at Wolf. "Not this one either."

She signed irritated and turned around on the tall ladder. "Why isn't there a book on what we need in here!"

Wolf shrugged and flipped through one of the books Whisper had thrown at him.

"I'm just amazed that we can get in here."

Whisper jumped off the latter and landed flat on her feet without a sound.

"We're looking for a spell to drag people into our dimension." She said, as if to remind him.

"I think it's too specific," Wolf said in a distant tone, as he continued to flip through the book. "What if it was a spell too draw someone closer?"

"Would that work?"

Wolf shrugged. "It's worth a try. _That_ isn't just going to give us an open door, we'll have to think outside the box."

Whisper shook her head agitated, but a little calmer than before.

"Have you noticed, that we're more volatile than before?" She asked, as she pulled another book from the shelf and read the cover.

"Yeah..." He said and put the book down. "Do you think it's _that_ 's doing?"

"She shook her head. "I don't think so."

"What was it Thorn said again?" Wolf mumbled. "That teenagers are easily agitated?"

"Yeah, something like that." Whisper agreed.

She let the book's pages flip between her hands.

"Wait." She suddenly said and put a finger down on a page. Wolf looked up from a book. "I think I found something."

Wolf got up and read the page over her shoulder.

"To draw the desired closer with siren song," She read aloud.

"We'll need to change some words, but I think it'll work in the long run." Wolf said, finishing her train of thought.

Whisper nodded. "Let's get started."

* * *

The street was dark and empty, when the wind blew around them, as Wally came to a stop.

It took a few seconds before Artemis' head stopped spinning, and Wally could let her down to stand on her own two feet.

"Thanks," She said, but didn't move. She was still woozy.

Wally held back a laugh. "I told you, you should keep your eyes closed."

"I didn't really think you would go _that_ fast." She said, slightly irritated and shook the last of the dizziness away.

"You said, you wanted to get home fast." Wally argued with a smug smile.

She signed and rolled her eyes.

"Your midterms are next week, right?" Wally asked, changing the topic.

"Yes..." she said, looking away.

Wally turned her face back in his direction. "Don't worry, you'll do fine. We've done the work, Arts, you just have to do is get one A, just one."

"This coming from one of the smartest people in world?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't you need to get inside?" He asked in return.

She did a middle thing between a laugh and a giggle. "Yeah."

Wally pulled her closer and kissed her.

She smiled and they slowly pulled away from each other, when they heard a scream.

"What was that?" Artemis asked.

"It sounded like it was close." Wally said.

Both of them stood completely still, and listened.

There was a crash and more screaming.

Suddenly they heard the breaking of glass and a figure jumped out of a window on a little way down the street, on the other side.

They looked at each other and stepped back, when they heard an odd, excessive giggling.

The figure broke it's fall by grabbing on to a metal ladder attached to the side of the building, and jumping down from there with an odd acrobatic grace.

Then the figure suddenly ran towards.

As the figure came closer at an alarming rate, they realised that the person was holding two long knifes.

Wally's eyes grew big and he pulled Artemis further back.

"I think that's..." He started confused.

Before he could finish, the figure jumped towards them.

Her two knifes clanged, when they clashed together with Artemis' bow.

She breath, relieved that she had pulled it out in time.

Then she got a good look at the giggling figure.

"Ace...?" She said confused, hoping it was the right name she remembered.

The girl giggled hysterical and suddenly pushed off Artemis with her feet.

Artemis stumbled back. Wally caught her before she hit the ground.

Ace giggled.

"I am his daughter, yes it true,

with these knifes, when I am blue

harm I bring, and yes pain to

yes, to you and you and you."

She sang in an eerie voice, before she jumped towards them.

Artemis swung her bow at her, But Wally had to move quickly to get her out of the way, when Joker's daughter swung one of her knifes at her neck.

"Guys, we have a problem!" He said over the com-link, as he moved both himself and Artemis out of the range of the knifes.

"We have a problem too," he heard Superboy say over the link. "Poison Ivy is attacking Happy Harbor."

* * *

 **Tell me what you think**

 **I tried to make the verse Ace sings like a nursery rhyme, tell me if I were close**


	37. Chapter 37

**I had a very odd day today,**

 **but you still get a chapter.**

* * *

"What in the world is going on?" Superboy said as they got closer to Happy Harbor.

"It's like the whole town has become one big plant." Miss Martian said.

"Whatever has happened we have to get the people to safety, and then see what we can do about Poison Ivy." Kaldor said.

Miss Martian nodded and made a hole in the spaceship.

Superboy jumped out the hole and towards the big plant.

"Wally said that him and Artemis were attacked by Joker's daughter, and now Happy Harbor, the town closest to the Cave, is attacked by Poison Ivy, who's son was part of the Hoods." Kaldor said aloud.

"I know," Rocket said over the com-link, she was on the way to help them. "This isn't a coincidence."

"Robin is on his way to help Kid and Artemis, we have to take care of things here." Kaldor said.

"Roger that," Rocket smiled confidently at him through the window in the spaceship as she flew by it.

* * *

He woke up.

It was warm and moist were he was, and dark, so comforting.

Suddenly it all came back to him.

His mom!

He tried to get up, but branches of thorn bushes held him down.

The room he was in, wasn't a room at all, it was an underground hole.

And his mother had trapped him there, until she was finished doing whatever she had to do.

He wrapped his fingers around one of the branches holding down his arm and tried to make it bend.

It didn't move an inch.

He bit his lower lip in frustration and pain, knowing that what he was going to do now, would hurt him, as much as it hurt the thorn bush.

He bended his elbow as hard and as fast as he could and the branch broke, leaving thorns on the inside of his palm.

The plant screamed in agony, and Thorn's body almost convulsed by the sound. But he bit lip till it bleed and ripped the branches off his other arm.

The plant's screaming became too much, and he pushed both his hands against his ears and laid there for a few minutes, until the plant's screaming died down again.

He carefully pulled his feet free.

His shoes were missing.

He stood up and rubbed his forehead. He had freed himself, but the screaming had properly scarred him for life.

He suddenly felt something pulled at him, sucked him in.

He had felt this before.

Wolf and Whisper.

* * *

Artemis' arrow glided through the air, but before it could even scratch her, she moved out of the way with an odd creepy grace.

She violently swung the knifes around suddenly letting one of them go, so it flew through the air towards Artemis.

Wally moved without even thinking and grabbed hold of the knife's handle.

Joker's daughter giggled and kept singing her creepy song:

 _"You can run, from me, oh my_

 _but fate is seal, you will die_

 _and blood will spill, and guess who by_

 _yes, you and you and your guy."_

"Can you please stop that!" Artemis said and pulled another arrow from her quiver.

Suddenly she stopped.

She stood completely still, like she had been frozen in time, with knife in a stabbing motion.

Wally and Artemis looked at each other, confused.

"Did you know she would do that, if you said that?" Wally asked.

Artemis shook her head and took a scared stepped towards the frozen Joker girl. "But then she acts insane, so … why not?"

Wally shrugged and stepped closer to the girl.

Suddenly a batarang flew past them and stuck itself in in ground.

"Hold your breath!" Wally said and pushed Artemis back.

Gas spewed out of the batarang, just as they got out of range.

They heard a thump, when the girl hit the ground.

"Are you guys okay?" Robin asked.

They both looked up.

"How long have you been stand behind us?" Wally asked with jokingly narrowed eyes.

Robin just shrugged with a smile.

"Sorry we're a little last," Zatanna said, as she came running. "The girl left kind of a weird trail."

Artemis shook violently.

"We're fine," She said. "Can you … just do something about her?"

She pointed at the Joker's daughter.

"Ebor htiw reh dnib!" Zatanna just said and a robe appeared around the girl, binding her arms on her back, as the smoke cleared.

Then she turned her eyes on them.

"Maybe we need to do something about this…" She said, while she rubbed her chin. "Semutsoc rieht otni sehtolc rieht nrut."

Then their clothes were magically turned into their superhero uniforms.

Wally didn't say anything.

Suddenly the girl opened her eyes and started moving around in violent jerks.

"What do we do about her now?" Wally asked, walking closer to her in deep fascination.

She grinned up at him.

 _"I can cut, through robes and bones_

 _I can break you, like stick and stones_

 _I will not stop, until…"_

She stopped in the middle of the sentence and suddenly her eyes flew around, like she was trying to find something, or looking for something she knew was there.

"What was that?" Robin asked.

"Don't have a clue," Artemis said. "She's been rambling some weird song or something."

"Nursery rhyme," The bond girl corrected her. Her voice was oddly calm.

Zatanna stumbled. "Any of you guys feel light?" She asked after a little while.

"No, but…" Wally said. "It feels like someone's pulling at my insides."

"I feel it too," Robin said.

"Same here," Artemis said. It felt like someone was calling her, sucking her in.

* * *

"Krekno filo meko gley!" They chanted.

They opened their eyes, as the light from the symbol, they had painted on the floor beneath them, faded.

"Did it work?" Wolf asked.

Whisper let her hands glide out of Wolf's and walked over to the railing overlooking the entrance hall.

"Yeah," she said slowly, in an unsure tone. "It worked. Maybe not precisely like intended."

"What do you mean?" Wolf asked as he walked over to her and looked down at the entrance hall too.

Beneath them their two friends were standing, well Ace was bound with robe, and Thorn was bleeding from his mouth and hands.

But, also beneath them, a few steps behind the other two, the eight teenagers, that had broken into their garden a week or two ago, were standing. Though they looked very confused.

The twins looked at each other, scared.

What had they done?!

* * *

 **Tell me what you think :)**

 **Some feedback would be nice about now :)**


	38. Chapter 38

**Sorry I'm updating to late, but I just bought a new car.**

 **But now there is a new chapter.**

* * *

"What just happened?" Miss Martian asked confused.

"No idea?" Superboy said rubbing his forehead in pain.

"Guys?" Kid Flash said, a bit confused about how they were here, then he looked up. "Where are we?"

The blue skinned girl looked down at them from the 2nd floor.

Her yellow eyes without pupils were wide with what seemed to be confusion.

"Whisper?" Poison Ivy's son asked. He looked like he was going to vomit. "Where are we?"

"Our dimension." The other twin said, as he came in to view.

"Dementia, dimentila, all the way around." The Joker's daughter babbled and giggled hysterical.

Zatanna took a step back from her.

"Let me guess, your parents got to you too?" The male twin asked.

Poison Ivy's son nodded.

"Hey, why are we here?" Wally asked loudly.

"That's what we want to know." The female twin asked and suddenly jumped over the railing on the 2nd floor and landed on her feet in front of them.

"Ahh, I see the problem!" The other twin said, he suddenly had a book in his hand. "We summoned the people we need, not the ones we want."

"And we need these people?" The girl asked with a raised eyebrow.

The boy shrugged. "Maybe _that_ is doing something to our magic."

The girl signed. "Well, we can't really do anything about it."

She made a sweeping gesture towards them, and they were flung through the air and bound to the wall with chains.

Then she just turned around to her friend.

"Are you thirty?" She asked the green boy.

He shook his head. "I … hurt a plant."

"A plant, a plant? No, you can't, do you really…" The bound girl, lying on floor, muttered continuously.

"Stop." The male twin said loudly. "Your rhyming isn't getting better."

Suddenly he too was on the 1st floor, standing in front of the hysterical girl.

He reached his hand towards her. "See the sign! Clear the mind! Of madness of any kind!"

A yellow glow came out of his fingertips.

The girl starred up at him, then blinked once, and then twice. Then she looked around, as best she could, confused. Then looked over her shoulder, and saw that her arms were bound, then back up at him again.

"Where am I? What happened?" She asked a little foggy.

"Long story," he said and made a sweeping motion with his hand and the ropes fell of her.

She stood up and looked at the young heroes chained to the wall.

"What are they doing here?" She asked and pointed.

The female twin shrugged. "Unwanted guests."

"I think the term is kidnap victims," Kidpointed out.

"We didn't kidnap you," the blue girl shot back.

"Then why are we here?" Artemis cut in.

"Didn't you pay attention?" The male twin asked. "We summoned the ones we need, not the ones we want!"

"You … need our help?" Kaldor asked confused.

"Well," the twins said in unison and looked at each other. They didn't know what to say.

"Just get them down."

"Thorn?" Joker's daughter said surprised.

"If you summoned them here, then we need them." He said through his teeth, sounding like he was in pain.

* * *

She dialed his number again.

It went straight to voice-mail.

She exhaled agitated and threw her phone on her bed.

Where could Wally be? With her?

Her dad had promise her, that she would be out of the picture, but…

She suddenly sat up straight.

What was her dad going to do to that girl?

She blinked confused.

Wally meant a lot to her, she had always like him, but … The League of Shadows didn't just … they were going to murder her.

And…

"Lia!"

She turned around on her chair. "Yeah, dad?" She asked.

"Pack a bag. We're going on a little trip after dinner." The last part he said with an evil smile on his face.

She stood up. "Where to?"

The smile got wider. "Let's just say it's a little father-daughter bonding."

She shook but nodded. "Mom's staying here? What about school?"

"We'll think of something." Then he just walked out and closed the door.

She signed and started packing.

* * *

"You can't get out?" Zatanna asked.

"Precisely." Wolf said.

"So, you dragged us instead?" Kaldor asked.

"Well it was either that or rotting in this dimension forever." Whisper snapped at them.

Wally looked around. "Wotan really kept you here all your life?"

Wolf nodded and sat cross-legged on couch.

" _It_ created this whole dimension with all we ever needed, so we would never want to leave."

"I've have heard of overprotective parents before, but this is…" Robin began.

"Why do you keep calling him that?" Rocket asked.

"Keep calling who what?" Whisper asked, as she fell down on the couch next to her brother.

"Don't get them started…" Ace signed.

Rocket gave her a funny look, but then answered Whisper: "Wotan, your dad, why do you call him _it_?"

The twins looked at each other.

"We don't know what to call _that_ ," Wolf said.

"Well, isn't he your dad?" Artemis asked confused.

" _He_ ," Wolf put emphasize the pronoun. "Is our creator. But even though the body now is male, the soul started out as female…."

"As evident by our creation." Whisper added, finishing her brothers sentence.

"What?" Kaldor asked.

" _It_ created us out of _it's_ essence, meaning _it_ created us in _its_ own image." Wolf explained slowly.

"Because _it_ is neither male or female, we were born as a pair of twins, one female, one male, if _it_ was either male or female, we would have been born as one entity of either male or female." Whisper explained further.

"Okay…" Robin said and nodded slowly.

"Now, that we have that out of the way, how do we get out of here?" Ace asked from the other end of the couch.

Both of the twins shrugged.

"I don't suppose any of you are skilled in the magic arts?" Wolf asked.

"Well … I am?" Zatanna said and raised an insecure hand.

"What about you Atlantean?" Whisper asked and nodded to Kaldor.

"Wotan said, I wasn't at his level," Kaldor explained.

"Neither are we, that's not the point." Wolf said with a shrug.

"It's about what he doesn't expect." Kid Flash said oddly excited. "Right?"

"I like had one," Thorn muttered and nodded towards Wally.

"You know a spell to get us out of here, and back to your dimension?" Wolf asked Zatanna.

She just shook her head.

Whisper looked down, then suddenly looked up with an excited expression and snapped her fingers. "What about a spell for finding home?"

"Isn't that the same thing?" Miss Martian asked.

"No," Wolf said and then looked Zatanna straight in the eye. "Do you have a spell for finding, let's say, an exit?"

"Well," Zatanna said, a little nervous. "I can try?"

They were all silent, when she spoke backwards: "Tixe eht em wohs!"

A red flash of light shot out of her fingers and went straight to a bookshelf in the corner, then … nothing.

"Was that it?" Ace asked, not impressed.

Suddenly a book fell out of bookshelf.

Wolf made a gesture and the book flew up into his hands.

"What is it?" Thorn asked.

"Exactly what we need…" Wolf said thoughtfully and let Whisper see it.

She looked up at her brother. "Has that been right here all along?"

"Is it our way out of here?" Kid flash asked.

"Yes," Wolf said and closed the book, so the dusted danced around him. "But this is going to take some time."

"Well," Thorn said. "It's not like we have anything else to do in here."

* * *

 **Tell me what you think.**

 **I'll try to update on Wednesday, but let's see what happens.**


	39. Chapter 39

**And I'm back again ... already.**

 **and you get a chapter.**

* * *

"Do you have any idea whether this is going to work or not?"

Wolf shook his head, as he drew a large circle on the floor with dark purple dust. "Worst case, we get ripped apart by the portal."

"And you want us to trust you guys blindly." Artemis said and crossed her arms.

"We're risking a lot on this too." Thorn muttered.

"They have a point, Arts." Wally said. "Besides we don't really have a choice, do we?"

Rocket signed. "Okay … where do we stand?"

"Just get inside the circle, the backwards talking magician will do the rest." Whisper said, as she crawled around on floor drawing symbols along the outside of the circle.

"Is it big enough to hold all of us?" Robin said.

"We'll know when we all stand within it." Wolf said, as he dusted himself off.

"Well, we wouldn't get anywhere by standing at looking at it." Wally signed and carefully stepped into the circle.

Artemis rolled her eyes at him and followed him into the circle. "You don't even believe in magic."

Wally shrugged, as the others stepped into the circle too. "Who says these people can't just open portals in space and time?"

She rolled her eyes at her again.

"Okay!" Wolf said, when everyone except his sister, Zatanna and himself were inside the circle. "Let's get this over with."

Whisper got up from the floor and handed Zatanna the book they had found on the bookshelf.

"Read this part." She said and pointed to a spell. "And remember, as soon as you do, you have to drop the book."

"O … Okay," Zatanna stuttered.

Wolf and his sister gently helped him into the circle.

"When your ready!" They said in unison.

Zatanna took a deep breath.

"Ekto velo, stekla!" She read, and the circle began to glow. "Fejna, metro sega depa!" Her eyes were glowing, and her hair started stirring, like she was standing out in the wind. "Kleko miko algepo!" Then she dropped the book.

* * *

The street was bare, only a broken streetlight blinked.

A dog barked as a squirrel ran across the street.

Why would anyone…?

Suddenly a purple gleam cut through the air and standing in the middle of the street were twelve teenagers, who seemed confused about where they were.

A blue boy looked around. "Did it work?"

"It looks like the right dimension…" Kid Flash muttered.

"Yeah … this is the place…" the blue girl said, then turned around on her heel. "-now the question becomes … what are we going to do about them?"

So, they weren't working together?

"Well…" Poison Ivy's kid muttered, he seemed … sleepy. "Where do we stand now."

"We were told to bring you back to Precious Child." Robin explained.

"But we can't if you escape from us." Kid Flash cut in.

Joker's daughter raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"Kid, we shouldn't!" Aqualad began.

The Speedster turned around and looked at him. "Come on, they helped us, we should do something for them."

"It still wouldn't work," the blue girl cut in. "Our parents are coming for us now, no matter where we go, they'll find us."

"What about those charms you guys wanted to make? The ones that made us look normal?"

The blue boy rubbed his chin. "That could work, but we would need some jewels."

The team of young superheroes looked at each other. Letting them go was one thing, letting them steal was another.

"Like these?" Poison Ivy's son showed them his hands holding four pieces of jewelry.

"Where…?" Joker's daughter started.

"I hid them under the leaves on my arm, before my mom took me." He explained.

The two blue kids took hold of the jewelry, then turned in unison to the young heroes.

"You said, you'd let us leave." They both said.

Kid Flash nodded. "We will, when you leave here we wouldn't follow you."

"Kid!" Aqualad warned.

"Let's begin then," the blue boy said and sat down on the ground opposite of his twin with the jewelry between them.

They held hands and chanted something inaudible, while the jewelry floated up.

Suddenly they stopped, and the jewelry fell down into their hands.

"Here," they said and handed the Poison Ivy's kid a ring, and Joker's daughter a necklace. They themselves took the earrings and the leather bracelet.

"Well, here goes," the blue girl said as she put on the earrings.

In front of the young heroes' eyes, the four teenagers' appearance changed.

Poison Ivy's son's skin turned flesh colored and his eyes became deep brown.

Joker's daughter's skin became flesh colored too, a tint darker than the others, and her black hair became light brown.

The twins' eyes got pupils and those pupils became a light blue color, and their skin became flesh colored too.

He nodded and press on his comp-link, as the two groups of teenagers parted ways.

"Boss? It's me. You were right about the location, everything is going like you said. You want me to take the kids in?"

"No," the man on the other end said. "Let them be, they have outlived their usefulness, just let them be."

He looked down at the young heroes. "Roger that, I'll return."

* * *

"Good news, Ra's?" Lex Luthor asked.

He let go of the comp-link in his ear. "Yes, the Xenothium experiment is so far a success, and our distraction worked."

"Good to hear." Savage nodded.

Ra's nodded. "Now … We were discussing the next mind control experiments?"

"Yes," Queen Bi said. "Psimon has a lot of good ideas."

"This is going to be fun." Klarion giggled.

Ra's nodded again. "I have a few … test subjects in mind."

"Bien." The Brian said. "I have a few idée, as well."

Lex Luthor smiled. "Well it seems to be a very productive month."

A shadow handed Ra's al Ghul an old photograph, he had just pointed at.

He looked at the three smiling faces in the photo and smiled himself.

"Yes, indeed."

* * *

 **Tell me what you think.**

 **Sorry it's written a little fast, but I needed to get back on track.**


	40. Chapter 40

**Sorry that its late (again) but I've had a really bad flu this week.**

 **But now you get a chapter :)**

* * *

She slowly opened her eyes, still smiling.

It had been a really good dream.

Her eyes widen in shock when they glided over the alarm clock.

There was 10 minutes to her first class began. And the alarm hadn't gone off.

She flew out of bed and put on her uniform, her hands shook so much from nervousness, that she couldn't tie her tie.

She was going to be late … again.

"Mom!" She yelled irritated and push open the door to the living room.

Her mom where sleeping in her wheelchair by the phone.

"What?" Her mother said sleepy and looked up at her.

"I'm late for school!" The angry teenager hissed.

The half-sleeping woman sat up in straight in her chair.

"Really?" She said shocked, but still sleepy. "Go, hurry … we'll talk about … this tonight."

Artemis ran out the door and right into David.

"You need a ride?" He asked.

She nodded without thinking.

He laughed. "This seems like De ja vu."

"Yeah," she said, embarrassed.

Without a word he calmly tied her necktie and lead her door the hall to the stairs.

"I guess people seen me dropping you off in front of the school won't be a problem?" He smiled.

Her face turned red.

* * *

She grabbed the back of her mother's shirt and pulled as hard as she could, while sternly saying: "Mom! Wake up! I have to get breakfast before school."

The woman sleeping on the couch awoke instantly and took hold of the girl's wrist?"

"Ashley?" She asked.

"Yes," the girl confirmed. "It's late, you have to get me breakfast, the bus will be here in 20 minutes."

The tired woman sat up, as trying to remember where she was. "Are you dressed and ready?"

"Yes." The girl confirmed.

Her hands glided over the surface. It was the couch.

She got up and stumbled a bit, still a little confused, as she went into the kitchen, with the girl right behind her.

She clicked the egg-timer to fifteen minutes and pulled out the buns with cheese and ham, she had baked a few days before, and put two in the oven.

"Is your hair done?" She asked in the girl's direction.

"No," The girl said.

"Go get your brush, we'll do it while you eat."

To minutes later the girl bit into a ham and cheese bun, while her mother braided her hair.

She was barely done when the egg-timer biped.

"Time to get two the bus." She declared, hoping her daughter was finished eating her breakfast.

"I'm ready." The girl said.

She took a few steps back and let her hand glide down her shirt.

"Can I go out in this?" She asked.

The girl looked her mother up and down, then nodded with a smile. "Yes,"

She followed her daughter out to the door, where she found her shoes and coat, and her white cane leaning up against the wall on the left side of the door.

With her cane in one hand and her daughter in the other, she carefully walked down the pathway to the street. And waited.

A big vehicle stopped in front of them.

"It's the buss," Ashley said, and she let go of her hand.

Then she heard the sound of her daughter's shoes hit the metal floor of the bus.

"She's on the bus." The bus driver informed her in a friendly tone.

She gave him a little smile back.

"Thank you."

She stood still until the bus had driven away. Then she went back into the house.

She put her cane back in it's place and hung the coat where she knew she'd find it again and put her shoes back in their place.

She walked back into the kitchen and bit into the bun, she had warmed for herself.

Why had she fallen asleep on the couch?

She swallowed and took another bite.

She couldn't remember doing that before.

She smiled.

Maybe once or twice when she had been on the phone with Paula and…

The phone!

The phone had been ringing last night and she had sat down on the couch and picked up the receiver.

And then…

Nothing. She couldn't remember anything else.

She walked into the living room and slowly and carefully sat down on the couch and fumbled after the receiver. It wasn't where it was supposed to be.

She found the cord and pulled it, until she pulled up the receiver from the ground.

She had been sitting with the receiver, when she had fallen asleep.

But who would even call her?

Maybe… She shook her. _She_ wouldn't call her. She wasn't even sure _she_ was out of prison, or whether or not _she_ was still in The League of Assassins.

She put the receiver in its place.

This was confusing.

Suddenly the phone rang.

She picked it up.

"Hello?" she said.

It was _her_.

* * *

When she came into the cave, Wally held her back.

Batman and Robin was standing face to face, seemingly having a conversation.

After Batman walked away, Wally pulled her forward.

"Is it bad?" He asked.

Robin shook his head with a weird smile. "Just expect to be briefed on your fails and flaws on the Precious Child mission."

"Did you…" Artemis started.

"No," He shook his head again. "But I do wonder where they are now."

"Probably far away from their parents." Wally commented, then turned to Artemis. "How was your day?"

She gave him a funny look, then just shook her head. "Well, I forgot my bag, because my alarm clock didn't go off and my mom overslept."

Wally raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Isn't it nice to have such a normal problem?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Don't get to use to it," Kaldor said as he came towards them. "We already have a new mission."

"Really?" Wally said. "What?"

"Batman want to wait for Conner and M'gann." Robin answered.

Suddenly the two of them appeared at the cave's entrance.

And Batman appeared in the middle of the room.

"From our sources in Belle Reve, we have learned that Count Vertigo has planned another attempt on the Queen of Vlatava's life." He started, as they walked closer to him.

"The attempt is said to take place during a birthday celebration." He continued.

"Should this not be a League mission?" Kaldor asked.

"She requested Kid Flash." Batman said.

"What?" Artemis yelled without even thinking.

* * *

She woke up, when a pillow was thrown in her face.

The head maid stood in the doorway to her room, yelling profanity at her in Russian.

She rubbed her forehead.

What would that old lady say, if she knew that she could understand every single curse word she said.

"…You should have been up an hour ago!" She final yelled and left.

She sat up. She had taken a phone call last night, and must have fallen asleep either during, or after it.

She looked at the clock.

It was 7 o'clock.

If she was lucky the boy hadn't woken up. If she was really lucky.

She signed and got up from the bed.

* * *

 **So ... tell me what you think**

 **I'll try to update on Wednesday, but we'll see how it goes...**


	41. Chapter 41

**Thanks for the reviews.**

 **You get another chapter.**

* * *

"Why does she want you to come?" Artemis asked with crossed arms.

Wally looked up from his textbook, with a little amused smile. "Well, I saved her life last year."

Artemis looked confused. "When?"

"On my birthday." He said and put his textbook down. "Remember, you guys defeated the ice fortress and I delivered a heart for an operation."

"That was for her?" Artemis asked, you could almost see how the wheels in her brains started to turn.

"Jep." He said and smile.

The scanner suddenly alerted them, that Batman was coming back into the Cave.

"Any news?" Wally asked, as he turned around on the couch, so he was facing Batman.

"Queen Perdita has allowed you and another one, to be undercover as guest at the birthday party." He described.

"Should I go?" M'gann offered. "I can bend in with the guest very easily."

"No, I'll go." Artemis cut in.

The rest of teenagers turned their heads in her direction.

Batman just nodded. "It's up to you, to decide between you who goes, as long as Wally goes too."

Wally nodded slowly. "Anything else we should know?"

"It's a masquerade ball." The dark man said and left the Cave again.

Wally turned to Artemis.

"You really want to go to a masquerade ball with me?" He asked skeptically.

Her mouth broke into a smug smile. "And miss out on you totally embarrass yourself in front of a bunch of snobs?"

He just shook his head smiling.

"Besides…" she said and stood up. "No way am I leaving you alone with this _Queen_ , who especially asked for _you_ to come."

"But isn't the Queen…" Robin started but stopped, when Wally shook his head at him.

Zatanna looked from one boy to the other, a little confused.

"Anyway…" She said. "You can't go to a masquerade ball without a dress."

A look of horror flashed over Artemis' face. "Don't tell me…"

"Shopping!" Raquel chimed in.

* * *

She signed and knocked on the door.

There was silent on the other side of the door.

She knocked again. "Young Lord?"

The word still felt weird on her tongue. It had been just about six years ago, since she had to start calling her that.

She slowly opened the door.

He was gone, and curtains billowed in the wind from the open window.

She signed hopelessly and walked over to the window.

The head maid was going to rip her head off for this.

She looked out of the window at the bushes below the second story window.

She had to alert the other maids. Rozalina should be able to find him without much effort, that girl seemed almost to be psychic, when it came to the _young lord_.

She closed the window, turned around on her heel, and began making the bed.

She signed for a third time.

When was it she had turned in her dangerous former life to look after a noble family far from her homeland?

* * *

"I'm home!" He called into house, as he closed the door behind him.

"Dinner's ready!" His mom called back from the kitchen.

It took less than a second to pull off his shoes, hang his jacket and throw his backpack into his room and stand in the doorway to the kitchen.

His mom put the chicken on the table. She smiled up at him.

"How was your day?" She asked.

"Good," he said and sat down across from his dad.

"And your midterms?" His dad asked, as they started to fill their plates.

His mom sat down.

"They haven't released the results yet." He said and put a piece of chicken in his mouth.

"We know you'll do great on them," his mom said.

Her husband nodded in agreement.

"By the way how is Lia?"

Wally shrugged. "Don't really know, she's not at school, her mom said something about her and her dad needing some time alone."

"Time alone?" His mom repeated confused.

"By the by…" Wally started and put his fork down. "I was wondering … is it okay that I take the Friday off in two weeks?"

"Why?" His dad simply asked.

"You remember Queen Perdita? She has kind of invited me to a masquerade ball…" he said.

"A masquerade ball?" His mother's eyes lit up.

"Well, she thinks there's going to be another attempt on her life…" he continued.

"I don't see the harm in you losing one day," his dad said, cutting him off.

"Really?" He asked.

His dad nodded.

"You'll need a new suit, then." His mother said, smiling.

* * *

She hisses as a thorny branch scratched her arm.

Why did he have to run off into the woods every single time.

A better question would be: Why she always had to be the one to run out into the woods on the far end of the estate to get him back.

The small heel of her shoe sank into the mud on the ground.

She signed.

With her luck he had probably broken a leg or something too.

She heard a faith laughter in the distant.

That had to be him.

She followed the sound.

The heartfelt laughter began louder, as she came closer.

A branch ripped her skirt, as she pushed it out of the way.

She hissed. Why did she have to come out here in her maid uniform again?

Now she had to sew it, when they came back.

She heard the sound of running water nearby.

She signed. "Oh no…"

If he had decided to jump in the lake that ran across the estate grounds, he would surely get sick.

She hurried through the woods, as fast as she could without her shoes completely sinking into the mud under her feet.

She heard the water splashing.

Finally she pushed aside the thick branches of a thorn bush, revealing the calm and clear lake, and the boy standing in it..

It looked like he was dancing as the water splashed around his legs, his blond hair was ruffled, probably by the wind, and his blue eyes shined, as he turned around and smiled at her.

* * *

 **So ... please tell me what you think :)**

 **if this chapter seems a little confusing ... it'll make sense in the next chapter :)**

 **I usually don't address reviews in my author's note, but this person wrote as a guest. (feel free to skip it)**

 **dear Cats**

 **I don't know whether it was the apology for being late with a chapter, or that I write "please tell me what you think" at the end of each chapter, that makes you think I depend on approval. I can assure you that I don't.**

 **I like getting feedback on my stories and it makes me happy when people say they enjoy my story, just like you did. But I am in no way dependent on reviews or approval, and I would write my fanfic even if I had neither.**

 **Because I simply like to writing these fanfic. :)  
**

 **Thank you for reviewing my story :)**


	42. Chapter 42

**I've had a really rough week so far :(**

 **and you get a chapter.**

* * *

"Rosalina!" He smiled.

"Rozalina!" She corrected and took hold of his elbow and pulled him out of the lake.

"You're late for your breakfast." She hissed, as she started pulling him through the woods.

"Ahh," he whined. "I'm not really that hungry."

"That doesn't matter!" She said through grinded teeth, and looked down at her feet, as they walked, afraid that her shoes would sink into the mud.

The boy signed. "Of course, it doesn't nothing I say ever does."

She signed relieved, when they stepped out of the forest, then turned around to the blond boy.

"I keep telling you not to sneak out." She scolded.

The boy shrugged agitated. "It's my estate, I should be able to go where I want."

She almost growled and started pulling him across the lawn.

He just followed her.

She sometimes really hated how the boy only came back, when she went looking for him. Not that it hadn't been fun once. But apart from having to stop her chores, every time he disappeared, and do them extra fast when he was found, so she didn't have to work through the night, the head maid had apparently deemed that she was somehow responsible for him going missing in the first place and was always hard on her.

The boy signed behind her.

"I miss being a child." He said.

"Well, it's high time to grow up." She said through grinded teeth, as the entrance came into view.

"We're the same age." He pointed out irritated.

She shook her head, exhausted, when she saw the head maid standing at the entrance, waiting for them.

She really didn't want to deal with this now.

When they reached the entrance the head maid took one look at the boy, and her hard expression softened.

She reached her hand towards him and dried some dirt of his cheek.

"Look at you child…" she said in a gentle voice, she only ever used with him, or his relatives. "You're all dirty and … where is your shoe?"

Rozalina looked him up and down from the corner of her eye.

She had been so busy pulling him out of the forest, that she hadn't even looked at the state he was in.

Compared to him, she didn't look that dirty.

His jacket sleeves were torn up, his pant legs were dirty and soiled, probably by lake water and he was missing a shoe. His bare foot was barely visible through a trick layer of mud. His hands and face were covered in dirt too.

He looked down himself too and almost looked surprised and almost look surprised at what he saw.

"You go take a bath, young man! Then go get your breakfast, your schedule is already late."

"But Nana I…" He began.

"No But!" The old woman said firmly. "And you!" She almost spat, as she turned to Rozalina.

She gulped. The punishment was coming.

"I think the toilets in the west wing needs to be scrubbed."

* * *

She sat in front of the mirror, pulling her hair up and down, from side to side, trying to find the best angle.

"Artemis, what are you doing?" her mother asked as she wheeled into her bedroom.

"Sorry," she said and got up from the chair. "I just wanted to try and find a new way to do my hair."

"For what?" Her mother asked curiously, and a little skeptical. Jade had been worried about hair, Artemis had always been happy with just a ponytail.

"It's for a mission?" Artemis said, seeming uncomfortable in this situation.

"A mission?" Her mom echoed. "What kind of mission?"

Artemis took a deep breath. "Me and Wally have to go undercover at a masquerade ball in Vlatava?"

"In Vlatava?" Her mother said curiously.

"Yes…" Aretmis said. "There is going to an attempt at the Queens life or something, and she insisted on Wally coming."

"Wally, why?"

Artemis shook her head. "I don't know, something about him saving her life before."

"The queen, huh?" Her mother said and rubbed her chin.

Artemis eyed her mother. "Do you know something about her?"

She shrugged. "If she's who I think she is, I meet her once a long time ago."

"You…?" Before Artemis could begin questioning her mom about how and why, something clicked in her head. "Wait, how old is this _queen_?"

Her mom shrugged. "I'm not sure, about my age perhaps?"

Artemis looked at her mom, mortified. Did this mean that a woman at her mom's age had an interest in Wally, and he didn't even seem to mind?

She signed, hopelessly.

"Do you have a dress?" Her mother asked, pulling her out of her dark thoughts.

"No, I'm going shopping with the girls this weekend…" the teenager looked almost mortified at the thought.

"Well…" her mom rubbed her chin again. "I think, I have something in the back of the closet." She said and pointed to a built-in closet right next to Artemis.

Artemis carefully opened the closet, unsure and a little scared of what she was looking for.

"It's in the back, on the third shelf." Her mom instructed her.

She stuck her hand in and got hold of something silky.

She carefully pulled it out.

It was a dark green strapless dress, almost the color of her costume.

"Try it on." Her mom encouraged.

She eyed her mom suspiciously but took her pants and T-shirt off and slipped on the dress.

She looked at herself in the mirror, it fit her like a glove.

"There should be a white fur jacket to go with it, in there too."

Artemis looked through the clothes, and there was a little, white fur jacket.

She put in on.

The sleeves went down to the middle of her upper arm.

Her mother gave her a proud smile. "It looks great on you. Now what to do with your hair."

Artemis returned her smile.

This was a little weird, but her mom seemed really happy to be able to help her … and it wasn't like the dress was ugly.

So she was just going along with this, for a little while.

* * *

"Young Lord, your morning tea." A butler said and put a cup down in front of him.

He huffed irritated and leaned forward to look at the cup with the light-brown liquid.

"Sit straight up at the table!" he was reprimanded.

He quickly straightened his back. "Yes, nana." He said and eyed his head maid and his personal nanny out of the corner of his eye.

It wasn't just at the table, everyone in this house acted like it, it would collapse on top of them, if he bent his back, even a little.

"Young Lord? … your … breakfast…" A timid little maid announced with a shaky voice and placed an omelet with some toast in front of him. Then she was gone.

He picked up the toast with his hand and was quickly reprimanded.

"Use your knife and fork!"

He signed and picked the utensils up.

"Honestly, you have been training in this for five years…" The head maid began.

He eyed her, as he put a piece of toast in his mouth.

"By the way, a letter from your father arrived…" He pecked up, when he heard that. That he wasn't expecting.

The head maid and nanny handed him an envelope with the name _Victor_ written on it.

He looked at the envelope.

"He's such a kind man, sending his son a letter, when he himself is in trouble overseas." He heard a male voice say, it would have been the butler standing by the door.

He flung the letter, letting it glide down the long table.

His nanny signed hopelessly.

"You're turning twelve soon," she breathed and went to pick up the letter. "You should act more mature."

"No matter how old I get, I'll never read his letters." He muttered, knowing how she'd act if she heard him.

"Oh, and your cousin wants you to come over for lunch, she has something to discuss with you." She said and slipped the letter into her pocket.

His eyes light up, and he took a sip of his tea and almost grimaced. He really hated tea.

"How can you be happy about hearing about her, but not about your father!"

He looked at his nanny, confused.

She just looked at him, like she hadn't said anything at all.

"You should hurry up and eat, you're already late for your lessons." She said.

He slowly nodded.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think :)**

 **The masquerade ball is coming next ... I think...**


	43. Chapter 43

**I think I just wrote the longest chapter yet.**

 **and you get to read it now :)**

* * *

The maid put the teacups down in front of them and placed the plate of cookies on the middle of the table.

"So?" He asked and looked suspiciously at the tea. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Instead of answering the girl in front of him eyed the two maid a few feet from them.

"You may leave." She said to them.

They made a small bow and left.

She took a sip of her tea. "It's about your birthday celebration."

He mimicked her but grimaced at the bitter taste. "Do I have to attend?"

"Yes," she just said. "It's going to be a masquerade ball."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why?"

She let out her breath and put the teacup to her lips. "There is apparently going to be an attempt on my life." She said and took another sip of her tea.

He leaned back on his chair, a little put-off by her calm demeanor.

"Why don't we just call it off?" He said and glanced at the flower garden around them.

"Considering the announcement, we're going to make at the party, that would be very difficult." She said

"Oh yeah … that." He scoffed and leaned his head on his hand.

"Don't sit like that." His cousin scolded him lightly.

"Don't talk to me like that." He said and, almost automatically, straightened his back. "You're two years younger than I am."

She calmly took another sip of her tea.

"Then isn't it high time you started acting like it?" She asked, no hint of humor in her eyes.

He stood up agitated. "Why does everyone want to tell me how I should behave? I'm eleven! I shouldn't have to act like an adult!"

She just carefully put her teacup down. "We are the only two members of the royal family of Vlatava left, we need to uphold a certain standard."

"Standard?" He echoed. "You mean like how people tell me how to live? Seriously, they tell me how to eat, how to stand up, how to sit, how to walk, how to talk… Hell, I don't even like tea, but I have to drink it four times a day, at least!"

As he said the last part he accidently pushed the teacup, causing it to tip over and the tea to spill out on the table.

"Victor!" The younger girl scolded.

He flinched at the name and turned away from her. "And will you stop calling me that!" His angry voice echoed in the small pavilion, they were sitting in. "I really hate that name! I hate everything about this place! I never asked to be a nobleman!" He hissed over his shoulder.

"So, you want to leave … me?"

Her tone made him turn around.

She had sounded heartbroken, but she looked genuinely puzzled.

Was it because she didn't understand why he wanted to leave, or because she didn't know how to feel about it?

"Perdita, it's not like that … I…"

"Victor!" She said cutting him off. "I want you to understand, that you are my only family." She let out a breath. "And I think I would be very lonely without you here."

He signed and sat down. "Yeah, same here."

"Sit straight up, when you're talking to a lady, and don't mutter." She scolded.

* * *

He held the bowtie up in front of himself in the mirror.

He shook his head.

It didn't really look good on him.

"Wally?" His mother said.

He turned to her and smiled. "Yeah?"

She returned the smile and adjusted his jacket and placed a red rose in his breast pocket.

"You look so handsome…" she muttered. "If you grandmother could see you now."

"Yeah," he agreed while smiling. Then he took the mask he had put on the small table by the mirror and placed it over his face.

"What do you think?" He asked.

His mom hadn't stopped smiling.

"You make a very handsome Raven."

He looked at his watch.

"It's time to go," he breathed.

His mom tucked at his shirt a final time and took hold of your chin.

"I know that you are on an undercover mission, but you should still remember your manners."

He gave her a sly smile.

"I will."

* * *

She put the pearl earrings her mom had given her on. She was sitting in her mom's room by her mirror.

Her mom had tied her hair back in a bun with a white ribbon with diamond-like stones.

She smiled at herself in the mirror, imagining what Wally would do when he saw her like this.

Her mom was at some kind of therapy, so she was supposed to give David the key when she left.

Her mom's old jewelry box sat on the table in front of her. It was still open. And a green stone caught her eye.

She thought about just closing it for a second, but … her mom wouldn't know…

She reached down into the box and pulled out a necklace.

It was a white pearl necklace, like the earrings she had on, with a green stone, one shade lighter than her dress, embedded on a golden pendant.

She held it up in front of herself in the mirror. It would go really well with the rest of her outfit, and it wasn't like her mom would miss it for this one day, she had probably never worn it anyway, and this was her only time going to a royal ball…

She put it on.

It looked just as good as she thought it would.

She glanced at the clock.

It was almost time to go.

She took the little green purse she had bought to go her dress and left.

David was standing at his door, waiting for her.

His eyes grew wide in shock, when he saw her. "Where are you going dressed up like that, little lady?"

She smiled nervously. "Just … hmm … out with a friends of mine…"

Then she dropped the key into his hands and started walking down the hall.

"Hey Cinderella?" He called after her.

She stopped and looked at him over her shoulder.

"Remember, twelve o'clock." He smiled.

* * *

"You're going to be an hour late," M'gann said as they closed in on the Queen of Vlatava's castle.

"That's okay, drop us of in the garden." Wally said.

Artemis came him a funny look. "Why?"

"If we go in through the gate, there's going to be documentation that we attended." He explained.

"But they have guards at the garden entrance too." Robin said.

Wally smiled slyly. "I have a plan."

M'gann camouflaged the spaceship, as they flew over the gardens and slowed down at the edge of a forest.

Two lines came down from the ceiling and a hole appeared in the floor.

Artemis, conscious of the fact that she was wearing a dress, didn't really know how to get down.

In the end Wally wrapped an arm around her as they were lowered to the ground.

Wally gave her a look up and down and smiled.

"You look very beautiful." He smiled, oddly gentle.

"Thanks," she said, turning red.

It hadn't been just Wally her outfit had had an impact on, the rest of the guys' jaws had nearly hit the floor too.

Wally took hold of her arm.

"Here," he said and slipped a ring on her finger and slipped her hand around his arm. "I'm going to want that back afterwards.

Artemis looked at the ring. It looked old fashioned with green stones, that could be mistaken for gemstones

Then he led her through the garden by the pathways, almost like he knew where he was going.

Before she knew it, they were stopped by a guard, before entering the castle.

They could clearly see that the ball was being held just on the other side of the garden entrance doors.

"Are you guest?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yes, I'm the grandson of Baron Branigan of England, and this is my fiancé…"

"Why did I not see you go out?" The guard asked.

Wally put an arm around Artemis. "We've been out here a while." He said and shot the guard a sly smile.

The guard nodded with a smile, apparently getting what he was trying to say.

Artemis looked from one to the other, not getting it.

The guard stepped aside, letting them in.

* * *

The ballroom was packed with masked men and women, also a few without.

"Let's blend in," Wally whispered in her ear.

She nodded.

He led her to a table filled with finger food.

She smiled, knowing he would embarrass himself.

But oddly he just took a carrot stick and chewed on that and handed her one.

She took it, almost in shock.

"And who might you be?" They turned around to a young woman with dark skin and a thick Spanish accent.

She held out her hand for Wally.

"Wallace Branigan," he said and gently took her hand and kissed the top of it and gestured to Artemis. "And this is my fiancé Artemis."

Artemis glanced at Wally confused. Wallace? … and was that a British accent?

She nodded and showed Artemis her pearly white teeth. "I'm the daughter of the Spanish ambassador."

Wally nodded. "Excuse us, I think, I see…" he trailed off and pulled Artemis with him through the crowd.

"Wallace?" She whispered with a raised eyebrow.

He smiled. "You want me to introduce myself as Wally?"

She shook her head smiling.

Suddenly his movements got a little stiff. "9 O'clock," he whispered. "Queen Bee is here."

She glanced over the crowd. True enough, she was standing along the other wall without a mask, talking to a few men.

They stopped walking and stood along the other side of the wall.

"You okay?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, just a little thirsty."

"I'll go get us something to drink," Wally said and lifted her left hand. "If a man, of any age tries to speak to you, lift this hand up and show them the ring, okay?"

She nodded, and he left.

Again, she had seen a side to Wally she hadn't seen before, she thought, as he weaved his way through the crowd of rich people. He acted like a gentleman at the moment, not that she disliked it.

"Hello, my dear…"

She turned her attention towards the man addressing her and froze.

It was Ra's al Ghul!

What was he doing here?

* * *

 **I almost feel evil for cutting it of here, but at the same time I think it's good as the really ball is just about to begin.**

 **until next week :)**


	44. Chapter 44

**it's Easter**

 **and you get a chapter.**

* * *

She forgot everything Wally had said about the ring and just stared at him.

He gave her gentle smile. "You look as beautiful as your mother."

She looked down herself and up at him again. She was wearing her mother's dress, of course he recognized her.

He reached towards her face.

And she just stood there looking at him, with big, scared eyes. Hoping Wally would come back and help her.

His fingers graced the edge of her mask.

Suddenly it hit her. He wanted to make sure it was her.

She stood frozen, as he was about to push the mask away from her eyes.

"There you are, dear!"

Both Artemis and Ra's al Ghul turned their heads to an older woman who came towards them.

Ra's al Ghul stepped away from her as the older woman reached Artemis and put a hand on the lower part of her arm.

"Oh, I have been looking everywhere for you, my dear." The older woman said and looked Artemis up and down. "And oh, you look absolutely divine tonight."

"Thank…" Artemis said confused, sure that the older woman had mistaken her for someone else. She glanced at Ra's al Ghul. He observed them with a confused look.

The older woman followed her line of sight and lifted a hand to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" Then she shook her head at herself. "Dear me, where are my manners…"

"It is quite alright, madam…?" Ra's al Ghul said politely.

"Branigan," She answered and lifted a hand with a ring on it. "Wendy Branigan."

Artemis looked at the old woman. Hadn't Branigan been the name Wally used, when he introduced them?

Ra's al Ghul kissed the hand, she offered him.

"I thought I knew this lovely lady, but it seems like I have mistaken her for someone else."

"Oh," the older woman seemed confused. "Well then …" She then turned to Artemis. "There are some people I would like to introduce you to dearest, shall we go?"

Confused, Artemis just let her pull her along by the arm.

"Thank you…" She signed, after Ra's al Ghul was out of earshot.

The older woman stopped and looked at her with a warm, grandmotherly, smile. "You looked like you were in need of a rescue, dearie."

Artemis blinked confused. "You mean, you just did that to help me?"

The older woman nodded, still smiling.

Artemis leaned forward just a bit. There was something about her, that reminded her of Wally … maybe it was her eyes. They seemed like the same shade of green, that his was.

"Who is the lucky man?" The woman asked her as they walked across the floor.

"What?" Artemis asked, confused and a bit scared. How much did this woman know?

"The ring on your finger," The older woman pointed to it. "You are engaged, yes?"

Artemis lifted her hand. "Ohm, yes … I…"

The woman smiled warmly again. "You are new to this dear?"

Artemis was so lost for words she just nodded.

The older woman patted her arm. "It gets better, dearest."

Then the woman looked across the room.

"Oh, look…" she said, with what looked like a knowing smile. "It seems like I'm needed elsewhere."

Then she slowly disappeared into the crowd.

Artemis looked around, confused as to what she was supposed to do. Then, almost on que, Wally appeared out of the crowd.

"Who was the lady with you?" He asked and handed her a tall glass.

She shrugged. "I don't have a clue."

And took a sip of the glass, and nearly spit it out again, it was alcohol. She eyed Wally.

He smiled apologetically. "It was all they had, for now."

Suddenly a trumpet echoed through the room.

"What was that?" Artemis asked, as the ballroom became quiet.

"It sounds like the Queen has arrived." Wally answered with a little smile.

Artemis didn't know whether she wanted to look or not.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A butler loudly announced from the top of a stairwell. "Queen Perdita and Count Vertigo!"

Both Artemis and Wally looked towards the stairwell, shocked. As far as they knew, Count Vertigo was still in Belle Reve.

Two people stepped into their line of sight.

And even though the boy, dressed in a military uniform, looked almost, if not just, like Count Vertigo, it was clear that he was far too young to be him, he couldn't be older than Robin.

Artemis' chin nearly touched the floor, when she saw the queen.

The girl had a green ballgown on, just long enough so you couldn't she her feet and a crown sitting on her blond hair, but she was a small, frail-looking girl. And though she had a controlled expression on her face, she seemed be younger than the boy beside her.

The crowd gathered along the walls as the boy lead the girl down the stairwell.

As Wally gently pulled her towards the crowd along the wall, Artemis looked at the two children. They looked so much like each other, they could be siblings, or twins.

When they finally reached the floor, violins started playing, and the boy led the small queen out into the middle of the ballroom. Then they stopped and turned to one another, the girl put a hand on his shoulder and lifted her skirt a bit, the boy put a hand on her side and lifted her other hand, then they began to dance.

After they had waltzed for a few minutes, other couples joined them.

"Shall we dance?" Wally asked Artemis, with a slight British accent, and offered her his hand.

"I can't dance." She said embarrassed, looking down.

"Well, then you're going to have to let me lead you." Wally said and took her hand.

He led her to the edge of the dancefloor and turned to her, gently put a hand on her side and lifted her hand up, just like the boy had done.

"Put your hand on my shoulder." He whispered.

She just did as she was told.

He started moving and he gently pulled her along. She looked down at their feet, to see how he placed his feet.

"Look me in the eye," he instructed.

She looked up.

"It doesn't matter how you place your feet, just keep up with me."

She nodded and looked over Wally's shoulder. She could see the two children dance through the crowd.

"Is there something wrong?" Wally asked.

Artemis looked down and then up at him, as they continued to move.

"I didn't think she would be … so young." She admitted.

Wally bit back a laugh. "Yeah, I had a feeling you did."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked in a low agitated voice.

He gave her a weird smile and shrugged. "I kind of like it when you get jealous."

She lifted an eyebrow. "You do?"

"It's kind of flattering." He smiled.

Artemis shook her head at him. "You're a weirdo."

"Why do you think I'm dating you?" He shot back

The music slowed to a halt and the dancing stopped.

People on the dancefloor parted and the two young children slowly walked towards the far wall, where they sat down, the girl on a throne, the boy on a throne smaller than the girl's.

"What are they doing?" Artemis whispered.

"Well, I'm assume now that they have opened the ball, they are going to sit until somebody invites the queen to dance, or she makes some kind of announcement."

"How do you know all of this?" Artemis asked.

"Didn't you research this, before we came?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile, knowing very well that she hadn't.

"So, what do we do now?" Artemis asked, they hadn't moved from the dance floor. But then again, they weren't there to dance.

Wally shrugged. "We can't do anything, before something is done to the queen, or we find out who in here is going to make the attempt."

Artemis signed under her breath. "How do we do that?"

"How about another dance?" He asked and offered her his hand again, as the music began again.

* * *

"So, what's your name?" He asked in a flirtatious voice, which was muffled by his mask.

"Business," she said and smoothened her uniform. "None, of your business."

"Me-ow." The guy commented and looked towards the castle. "So, tell do this thing."

As he began to walk, the girl took hold of the back of his costume. "Not yet, we're going to wait until the little princess have made her announcement, then we strike." She said in a low voice.

The guy turned to her and pulled his mask off, revealing his blue eyes. "You know, for someone who is doing this for the first time, you're pretty scary…"

"It's kind of a family thing," she smiled and pulled her mask on. "Now let's get a better look at the royal family."

* * *

 **I know, It feels like I'm dragging this out, but as we say in Denmark: "There is meaning in the madness."**

 **for now just endure, I can't promise how much longer this is going to go on.**


	45. Chapter 45

**This chapter is a bit longer than usual.**

 **But you still get to read it.**

* * *

"There is no one suspicious here," Artemis whispered, as Wally turned them around.

"Yeah, doubt anyone would look that way either, but try looking at the queen." He whispered back, and turned them slightly, so she had a clear view of the little girl.

She was sitting on the throne, slowly looking around the crowd, swinging her feet.

The boy beside her, sat stiff in his chair, seemingly waiting for somebody, or something.

"Do you think the boy … knows anything." She asked, as she missed a step and had nearly fell against Wally, if he hadn't caught her.

"Don't know, it is a possibility. If he's Count Vertigo, then he's probably the former count's son, then he could know something. But … the queen, she looks nervous."

"Yeah…" Artemis agreed.

"I have an idea," he said smiling and led her to the edge of the dancefloor.

"What are you going to do?" Artemis asked, as he gently pulled her with him.

"I don't believe we have been introduced."

Suddenly Queen Bee suddenly stepped out in front of them.

Artemis froze on fear, but Wally just smiled warmly.

"That would not be hard to believe, your majesty. We, unfortunately, don't often get to socialize with royalty." He said and browed his head.

Artemis eyed him. He was speaking with a British accent again.

"You know who I am?" She asked, clearly suspicious.

"Of course, your higness." He smiled. "You are very renowned for your beauty."

"You charm me, but who are you?" She lifted a hand to him.

He took it and kissed it.

"I am Wallace Branigan and this…" He said and made a loving gesture towards Artemis. "Is my fiancé Artemis."

Artemis did her best attempt at a curtesy and smiled as politely as she could at the older woman.

"Branigan?" She repeated, with an evil smile. "Are you related to Baron Branigan."

"Yes," Wally answered, a little uneasy. "He's my grandfather."

"Oh, really?" She said the smile got wider. "The man over there?" she pointed into the crowd with her glass. "I didn't even know he had grandchildren."

Both Artemis and Wally followed her line of sight.

She had pointed to an older couple, Artemis recognized the woman as the one who had help them earlier.

Wally froze for a second, then let out a breath.

"Yes, ohm… actually I have three cousins … your highness … please do not tell my grandparents that you have seen us." He stumbled over his words, desperately trying to find his foot.

"Why not?" She seemed amused. "Is there something wrong?"

"Well," he breathed. "They do not know I have engaged myself to this lovely creature, or that we are even here. We're here so my fiancé can get used to society, amongst people who probably won't see her again."

Queen Bee looked a little taken aback. "But yet you use your family's name." She said with a raised eyebrow, still not convinced.

"We had to get in. And if I had used another family's name, it would be easy to figure out." He said and smiled at her.

"That makes sense," She nodded, looking a little baffled.

After a few seconds of silence, Wally cleared his throat. "Excuse me, there is some people I would like to introduce my fiancé to … you don't mind that is…"

"Of course," she smiled. "I hope you save me a dance."

"With this lovely little thing on my arm?" He said, smiling at Artemis. "I cannot make any promises."

Queen Bee took a step back, apparently not used to be rejected.

"Let's go my love," he said and gently pulled her along, past Queen Bee

"That was way too close." Artemis whispered.

"No kidding," Wally breathed.

"Did you just call me a pretty little thing?" She whispered with a raised eyebrow. She didn't really like being called that.

"Bear with it," He smiled at her. "Woman are seen as mindless, pretty things, that still are under men's rule. In this polite society at least."

"What are we going to do, when she asked those old people about us." She whispered, as they continued to move through the crowd.

"Don't worry, that's not going to be a problem." He smiled.

"So where are we going now?" She asked, as Wally continued to pull her along.

"To introduce ourselves to the queen, of course."

* * *

"Oh, come on, you have got to give me something…" He said, as he crawled along the underside of the balcony with her on his back.

"We're hang upside down on a balcony. On a mission to kill a child queen. Could you try to take this serious?" She hissed in his ear.

"Don't yell at me." He said, a little irritated. "If it wasn't my Xenathium suit, we couldn't crawl up this way, and…" He huffed. "You are kind of heavy."

"Xenothium," she said and looked up, as they got closer to the edge of the balcony.

"What?" He said confused.

"Xenothium," she repeated. "It's a Xenothium suit, not a Xenathium suit."

"How do you know that?" He asked and stopped at the edge. He knew, he was not the only that have been considered to wear the suit.

She unwrapped one of her arms from around his neck and reached out and grabbed the edge. Then she swung herself, so she got a good hold of the edge with both hands.

She looked down at him. "I designed it."

He made a sound and crawled up to her. Guess he couldn't judge her by her pretty face.

She took hold of the balustrade surrounding the balcony and pulled herself up.

He followed her.

She held a hand out in front of him. A sign for him not to go any further.

"What is it?" He whispered.

She held a finger up to where her mouth would be under the mask and pointed in between the balusters.

He looked closer.

There was an older woman standing close to the edge. She had her eyes closed and she just stood there. Almost like she was sleepwalking.

They could probably slip past her.

"Madam Branigan?" Someone suddenly said.

The older woman's eyes shot open and she turned around confused.

"Yes?" She seemed confused.

He blinked confused, as Queen Bee came forward. Was she going to get the woman out of the way.

"I'm sorry, if I startled you." Queen Bee said politely.

"That's okay," the older woman said and turned in their direction again. "My mind flies when I'm out in the fresh air."

"Madam … I know you do not know me very well." Queen Bee continued.

"Well, we are very far from England, I know almost no one here. So, who are you Miss?"

"Queen Bee of Bialya," She explained.

"Oh, A royal?" The older woman smiled, turning around. "It's a pleasure." Then she curtsied.

"Though you don't know me, I'm very aware of your husband, and how you came to be his wife." Queen Bee continued.

"Oh, that is a bit embarrassing. I hope you will not think ill of me." The older woman smiled.

He held back a grunt. How long were they going to talk?

"Not at all," Queen Bee assured him. "But I am a bit puzzled, as I have never heard that you have children."

The older woman turned her back on her. "Oh yes, most people are considerate not to talk about them." Her voice had a sad tone

"So, you have children?" Queen Bee pressed on.

"I gave birth to three, a boy and two twin girls." She let out a breath. "That seems so long ago."

"They're dead," Queen Bee seemed like she wanted to know something, and didn't care much for the woman's grief.

The older woman nodded and breathed deeply. "Two of them, a car accident and a robbery, the last one, one of my girls, ran away from home, she lives in America. My husband doesn't want me to contact her."

"So, you don't have any grandchildren." Queen Bee concluded.

He glanced at the girl beside him, she was just staring at the scene in front of her, her eyes showed concern.

He almost signed, but held it in.

He had no idea what was going on. He just wanted them to good back inside, his arms where starting to hurt.

The older woman smiled warmly.

"Yes, I do. I have four, two boys and two girls." She signed. "The three oldest are almost adults, how time flies."

Queen Bee was a little taken aback.

He shook her head. Why did she care whether an old woman had grandchildren or not?

"Does one of your grandsons have red hair?" She asked the old woman.

The older woman turned to Queen Bee again. "Yes," she said with a warm smile. "You might not believe this, but when I was my grandchildren's age I had red fiery hair. My youngest grandson and my granddaughters got that from me…" It seemed like it suddenly occurred to the woman how long she had talk. "Why do you wish to know these things."

Queen Bee smiled charmingly at her. "One of my acquaintances wants to do business with your husband. It was simple curiosity."

* * *

They slowly walked towards the queen and stopped a few feet from the two children.

Wally made a gesture to Artemis, that she had to stay still. Then he took another step forward and bowed slightly, while holding out his hand.

"May I have this dance your majesty?" he asked.

Suddenly it was like the whole room went silent and still, and stared at them, waiting for the little queen's response.

She looked at him, then glanced at her, she looked puzzled. Then she looked at the boy beside her and nodded towards them.

They both rose. The boy seemed uneasy, but walked with the girl to them, and stay just a few feet behind when she reached Wally.

She searched his face with suspicion, but as soon as her eyes meet his, they lit up like a Christmas tree. She had recognized him.

Smiling, she took his hand and let him lead her out on the dance floor.

Artemis fidgeted. Was she supposed to just stand there?

The boy, who had sat beside the queen, stepped forward and offered her his hand.

"May I have a dance?" He asked politely.

Artemis blink. Why did he sound Spanish?

She took his hand and he led her onto the dancefloor, very close to Wally and the queen.

The music started playing again.

Wally suddenly put both hands around the little girl and lifted her of the ground and up to his level and started dancing.

People in the crowd gasped.

Artemis looked at the boy in front of her, he reached just below her chest. How was this going to work.

The boy glanced at her, his eyes turned a yellowish color, like a cat's, and … suddenly they were back to normal. Then he just put one hand on her side and took her hand and started dancing.

The boy led her around, just as, if not more gracefully than Wally had.

Though he kept looking towards Wally and the queen, who despite pretty much hanging on Wally, seemed to be dancing gracefully, and seemed to enjoy it.

She nearly fell over his feet, as she looked at them.

The boy somehow managed to pull her back on her feet and looked up at her. His eyes had changed again, back to the yellowish, cat's eyes.

His eyes fell on her necklace, and for a moment turned back to blue, as he looked at it with curiosity.

She managed to look down at it. She had almost forgot she'd had it on.

Then his eyes had meet hers.

"You shouldn't worry about your boyfriend, he wouldn't have the status to match her." He said.

She looked at the boy, who gracefully led her through the dance.

Who was he?

"I'm Queen Perdita's cousin," he said, while eyeing Wally.

She just stared at him with big eyes.

He turned his face to her again. His eyes cat-like again.

"You are here to protect us." It was a statement, not a question. He nodded towards the balcony. "Then you should start with the noisy people hiding behind the balcony doors."

The music gently stopped.

"How do you know we here to protect you?" She asked confused. What did he mean with noisy people?

His eyes turned back to blue, as stepped back. "Are you aware, you speak out loud?"

* * *

 **This is far from finished...**


	46. Chapter 46

**This chapter is a bit of a filler.**

 **But I hope you enjoy it none the less.**

* * *

"How are we going to know, when she's made the announcement?" The guy asked.

"How should I know?" The girl hissed from her hiding spot behind the other, giant balcony doors.

"Well, you seem to know everything else!" He bit back.

She, irritated, put a finger to her lips, to get him to be quiet. And looked into the crowed ballroom.

That old woman from before had said something about a red-haired grandson and a daughter living in America…

She saw a glimpse through the crowd, and got up on her toes, trying to get a better look.

Was that Wally?

If it was him, then they had a problem. He was dancing with the little girl, she was supposed to kill.

* * *

When the music stopped, he stopped and gently placed her down on the ground.

She smiled like a little girl.

He nodded and gave a formal bow and … she took hold of her dress and gracefully curtseyed for him.

A shocked murmur ran through crowd surrounding them.

"Sir?" Wally looked up at the boy, who the queen had called her cousin, Count Vertigo's son. "Your lady," He said and gestured to a wide-eyed Artemis balancing herself on the boy's arm.

"Thank you," he said and pulled Artemis closer.

She seemed shocked. What had that boy done to her?

The boy glanced at him, and it was as his eyes became an entirely different color. He shot Wally a frown, and just went to Queen Perdita and led her towards the thrones.

"Why … did we do this?" Artemis asked. "We're not really _blending in_."

"It was to reassure her, and to find out if she had any idea who the assassin could be." Wally explained.

"Reassure her?" Artemis echoed with a raised eyebrow.

Wally smiled. "What about the boy … was it Victor, his name was?"

"He didn't give a name."

Wally just shrugged. "Did he know anything?"

"He said something about checking the noisy people behind the balcony doors…" She said with a confused look on her face.

Wally raised an eyebrow. "Noisy people, what did he mean by that?"

Artemis shrugged. "He said, that since we were here to protect them, that we should start with the noisy people behind the balcony doors."

"You told him?" Wally asked.

Artemis touched her forehead, confused. "I must have?"

"You must have?" He echoed and looked at her confused, she seemed foggy, like she had trouble remembering the conversation with the boy named Victor. "Did he say anything else?"

Artemis nodded and looked up at him. "He asked me, if I were aware that I talked out loud."

Wally blinked. "Okay…" he scratched the back of his head. "If the kid knows something, then this is maybe his way of helping us. She's going to make an important announcement soon, they probably strike before then."

Artemis just nodded, still confused. Had she talked out loud?

"Let's go change into our costumes, so we'll be ready…" He eyed Artemis. And gently pulled her along, trying to locate a place they could hide.

* * *

She looked over the crowd of people.

Kid Flash … he hadn't given her any other name, and his female companion had disappeared into the crowd.

The masks made it hard to determine who was who, something she hadn't taken into consideration when she had decided on the theme.

Another dance came and went. She still couldn't see them, but she assured herself that they must be nearby.

She glanced at Victor, he seemed to be nodding off.

She signed silently. She supposed that now would be a good a time as any.

She stood up and straighten her back to look as tall as possible and nodded to servant standing beside the thrones, who hit a spoon gently against a wineglass he was holding.

The ringing sound of the glass filled the room as the other servants followed his lead, and the crowd grew silent and turned to her.

She took a deep breath.

"Dear friends…" She said loudly with a gentle smile. "Thank you all for attending my cousins 12th years birthday party." She paused, as the crowd clapped and lifted their glasses at her.

She glanced over at Victor.

He stood up straight with his hands claps behinds his back and stared straight ahead.

"And as he is now 12 years old, and the oldest of his household. I will bestow upon him the title Count." She continued.

And whispers ran through the crowd.

She gestured to Victor to step forward and took another deep breath. "He shall henceforth be known as Victor Carlos Van Vertigo!"

A waiter gave both of them a glass half-filled with red wine.

"All hail Count Vertigo!" The captain of the royal guard said and raised his glass.

The crowd echoed him.

"All hail the queen!" he bellowed.

Suddenly a red substance shot through the room, knocking the captain over, knocking him out.

"Sorry about that," A costume figure said, as he stepped into the ballroom from the balcony. The crowd was frozen. "I missed."

* * *

It couldn't really have been Wally, could it? He wouldn't have any reason to dance with the child queen, or even be at this party…

Though … the old woman on the balcony Queen Bee talked to, she could be…

She shook her head. All she had seen was the red hair and his dance moves, and she only recognized them, because they'd been in dance class since the 1st grade.

"All hail the Count." They heard from inside the ballroom.

"Looks like that's our cue." She smiled.

"All right." He sounded excited and shot a substance from his hand into the ballroom. Then he growled. And walked in through the doors. "Sorry about that," he said. "I missed."

She signed. He was hopeless. But he seemed to be handling the suit very well.

She went in after him.

He pulled his arm back and slung a red substance through the air towards the queen. And then … in a flash she was gone.

"I don't think you were invited."

He looked around. On the other side of the ballroom Kid Flash was standing with the queen in his arms. "Are you all right, your highness." He asked.

The little girl smiled at him. "Yes, yes of course."

He threw the substance towards the speedster, but it was intercepted by an exploding arrow.

People scream and ran around like headless chickens, desperate to escape.

The shot out the substance in both directions from the palm of his hands.

This suit was really amazing, all he had to do was point and the substance shot out from the X's in the palm of his hands.

She searched the frantic crowd for the archer. There she was, Sportsmaster's daughter, Artemis, Wally's girlfriend. She recognized her so easily.

One of the ray of red substance nearly hit the boy standing frozen by the thrones, if he had thrown himself out of the way.

"Remember we're not suppose to hurt the boy." She reminded him.

"And there weren't supposed to be any superheroes here." He countered.

"Life never goes has you plan." Kid Flash smiled.

She smiled under her mask. He could be Wally.

Her partner slung another ray of red substance at the speedster.

He evaded it, but one of his feet got stuck in substance.

"Xenothium," he breathed.

"Perdita?"

The little girl turned in the speedster's arms.

"Victor. We need leave." She said, oddly calm and pulled away from the speedster.

The costumed man aimed his hand at the two children, before she could stop him.

Artemis shut her arrow and froze the ray before it hit them.

Kid Flash moved and moved the two children out of the way. Holding one in each arm.

Man, they were heavy.

"Kid Flash!" Artemis yelled to him over the panicked. "Get the kids to safety, I'll take care of these two."

"Got it." He nodded and was gone with the kids in a flash.

"Great," Her costumed partner said through grinded teeth. "This just keeps getting harder."

"You take care of archer-girl, I'll handle her boyfriend." She said and went towards the direction, she thought Kid Flash had went.

"Not fair!" He yelled after her, as she avoided an exploding arrow. "Why do I get the boring job?"

"Because you screwed up killed a 10-year-old." She yelled over her shoulder and disappeared into a corridor.

* * *

 **See you next time :)**

 **ps. ... there's going to a confrontation between Wally and Lia next...**


	47. Chapter 47

**I had some trouble with a phrases this time fx** ** _Her brows furrowed_** **is that grammaticly correct?**

 **But I really hope you like this one, I do :)**

* * *

"Anywhere I can hide you two?" Kid Flash asked as he speed down the hall, holding a kid in each arm.

"The library," The boy said. "There's a secret passageway."

"It's a big pair of … double doors." The queen breathed.

Kid Flash nodded and stopped running and glided down the hall, as pair of double doors came into view.

He pushed open the door.

"Which of the bookshelves?" He asked and put them down.

"What?" The little queen asked, looking a little confused.

"Which bookshelf is the secret passageway behind?" He explained, anxious to get the two of them to safety.

"Bookshelf?" The boy said and calmly walked along the wall. "That would be a bit too obvious." He knelt down in front of a large air vent beside a small table. "This is the passageway."

Kid Flash and Queen Perdita followed him.

Kid Flash pulled at the golden, metal grate.

"It can't be opened." He stated.

"Not if you don't have the key." Queen Perdita said and pulled a golden key out of her stocking and pushed it into a hole at the edge of the grate and turned it.

The grate swung open, just like a door.

Wally looked at her, amazed. "Why do you have that."

Both children looked at him completely baffled, then looked at each other, then back to him.

"We are our countries future, it is customary for the children of the royal house to have the key to the passageways, as they can continue the bloodline." The queen explained.

"And…" the boy smiled and shrugged. "It's fun to watch the meetings and parties, we're not old enough to attend, through them."

"Were does it lead?" He asked.

"To a maze of passageways." The boy said and glanced at him, again his eyes changed color to the yellowish cat-like eyes. "Don't worry, we'll be safe, we've been playing in them for years. And we got the only key so once you close the grate behind us, no one can get in."

He crawled in.

Queen Perdita turned to him and pulled at his costume at his wrist, nervously.

She looked up at him.

"I have no doubt you'll save me, and my cousin, just like you did before." She looked down, he saw her cheeks grow red. "Once you have … dealt with the … unwanted guest, just announce that we're safe, and we'll come out of hiding."

He smiled at her and patted her on the head.

"In with you, your majesty." He said and gave her a gentle push.

She got down on all four and followed her cousin into the air vent.

He pushed the grate shut and it clicked.

He stood up.

Suddenly there was the sound of gentle footsteps.

* * *

"You know," the guy said and rubbed the back of his neck. "I could kill you."

Artemis put an arrow on her bow and pulled back the string. "You know, I can kill you too."

"Then…" he said flexing his fingers. "Shall we get too it."

The red substance shot out of his hands. She let go of the string.

The arrow hit the substance as it flew through the air, freezing it. The substance crystalized and fell to the floor, where it shattered.

Her brows furrowed.

She had seen it before … when Wally was kidnapped by The League of Shadows he had throw something like that…

She jumped out of the way as he threw more her way.

She grinded her teeth and stamped her foot in anger.

Wally just happened to have run off, when she need his expertise.

Artemis froze, then shot another arrow towards the costumed guy.

She never thought she put _Wally_ and _expertise_ in the same sentence.

"You are Sportsmaster's daughter, aren't you?" He asked and slung more red substance at him. She shot another arrow freezing the substance, duplicating what had just happened. "Aren't you named after a Greek god? Athena? Artemis? Something like that…"

She glanced around, everyone had left the ballroom.

"What's it to you?" She said through her teeth, holding an arrow on the string on the bow.

He put his hands up in a mockingly surrendering gesture, showing on the red X's on the palm of his hands.

"Hey, don't murder me for that, my parents name me the most generic thing ever."

They stood like that for a few seconds. She didn't know what to do. She should just knock him down…

Suddenly he jumped forward, pulling out a staff, seemingly out of nowhere.

She stopped him with her bow.

"You know," he said leaning into her, putting more pressure on the staff.

She tried to stand her ground.

"My partner is going to find your boyfriend and she's going kill him and that snobby little queen."

"What about the boy?" She asked. "The Count," she added.

"We're not supposed to kill him, just the girl."

"Why?" She looked around trying to figure out a plan.

He shrugged and leaned closer, putting even more pressure on the staff. She felt feet glide along the floor. "Don't know, don't care. I got these powers and this suit, fair trade."

She kicked him in the stomach.

He tumbled backwards.

It had been a reflex, of some kind.

She smiled. Maybe she didn't have think so much, and just act on impulse.

He got up, while rubbing his stomach. "Good one," he said, impressed. "Now let's have some fun."

She signed and shot another arrow.

This guy was even more exhausting than Wally.

* * *

She looked at the big door.

She smiled. She had feeling they were in there.

She silently pushed one door open and stepped in, walking on her toes.

There was a click. She smiled again. There was a hidden passageway.

And they had just disappeared into it.

She stepped around a bookshelf.

"I know, you're there."

She stopped.

So, they hadn't all disappeared into the secret passage.

She looked around the bookshelf.

Kid Flash. The red, unruly hair looked like Wally's.

She ducked back behind the bookshelf.

"Why do you protect the queen of Vlatava?" She asked making her voice deeper than usual. "isn't this a little outside your league's borders?"

Wally looked from side to side. Trying to find out where the noise was coming from.

"I could say the same thing about you," he said. "But then again, I suppose it all depends where your league based, I have no idea where Ra al Ghul started his braindead zombie army."

She smiled behind the mask. A bad attempt at humor, he could defiantly Wally.

"Was that supposed to be funny?" She kept her voice neutral.

Wally took a few steps, his eyes glided over all bookshelves in sight.

It sounded like a girl, but the voice was deep, like she was trying to distort it.

"It wasn't my best attempt, I agree, but I think you're a zombie."

"Oh?" The girl, or woman, around his height, stepped out from behind one of the bookshelves. "How so?"

"For one?" Suddenly a throwing star flew towards him, he moved out of the way. "You're really slow."

He was Kid Flash, after all. If she was going to keep him still, she had to be smart.

"So why go after the Queen?" He asked dragging the time out, so queen Perdita and her cousin could get further into the passageway, and the shadow in front of him wouldn't find the entrance.

"I'm a shadow, I don't asked questions…" She said taking another step towards him.

"Do you know what the Light is?"

She threw another throwing star at him.

He moved out of the way.

Suddenly two other throwing stars came at him.

He stepped to the side but was then throw back towards a bookshelf.

He couldn't move his feet. He looked down.

Two throwing stars sat next to each of his ankles, digging into the bookshelf and his costume, making it impossible for him to move, without ripping both his costume and his skin.

The two throwing stars flew through the air, catching his costume, pressing his hands back against the bookshelf.

He couldn't move. He was caught.

"Not so braindead, am I?" She asked, as she slowly came closer.

He could hear the smile in her voice.

He starred at her.

Worst case: she was going to kill him. Best case: she left him like this.

"Well," he said. "It does take some brains to catch the fastest kid around."

The shadow pulled her mask up, just so he could see her mouth.

She smiled.

"Thanks for the compliment."

If this guy was Wally, she had to leave him with a little … parting gift. And if he wasn't? he would a very good stand-in.

"Sorry I prefer blonds," picking up on the flirty tone of her voice.

Suddenly she pressed her lips against his.

He froze.

Whatever he expected, it was this.

She put a hand on each side of his face.

She didn't move, and for what seemed like an eternity, she just stood there, with her lips pressed against his.

Then she let go and stepped back.

Wally starred at her confused, as she pulled her mask back down.

"That was nice, handsome." She said and touched his cheek.

He blinked.

Lia's name suddenly popped into his mind, and for a moment the shadow sounded like her.

"If you'll excuse me. I have go kill a little girl now." She said like she had just told him the weather forecast and turned around and left.

* * *

 **I hope I see you in a week :)  
**


	48. Chapter 48

**Sorry I'm a day late, something came up.**

 **but Thank you for the reviews they mean a lot to me.  
**

 **and here's a new chapter :)  
**

* * *

He ripped his arms free, creating holes in his costume.

Why would she kiss him?

Shadows were, from what he knew, hollow. If she kissed him, there had to be a reason.

He ripped one of his legs free.

He had been so shocked, when she did, that he had just stood there, and hadn't even attempted to move even after she had gone.

The throwing star was to close to his leg, so he pulled it out, looking at it closely.

It was like she wanted to distract him.

He stopped.

Had she foreseen his reaction?

If she had. She had given herself a head start, and he had to hurry!

She was wandering around, wanting to kill the queen, and possible anyone who stood in their way.

And Artemis was battling the guy in the suit in the ballroom.

He signed and began running.

This could become a very long night.

* * *

Victor helped her stand up, as the passageway got tall enough that they didn't have to crawl anymore.

He signed. "What do we do now?"

"We wait." Perdita just said.

"How can you so calm?" He asked irritated.

"Panic wouldn't do us any good, we're safe now, so we must watch and wait until it's over." She just said and followed him through the passageway.

"You place a lot of faith in an American." He said shaking his head.

"How do you know he's American?" She asked.

"His girlfriend told me." He said over his shoulder. And walked up the steps to a landing, were they could look out the eyes of an old painting.

"His girlfriend? Wasn't she just his partner? Well … in any case … he'll always be a knight to me."

He turned to her.

"You really have a crush on him, don't you?" He said with a smile.

"Crush?" She repeated confused. "Sometimes I really don't understand your way of speaking."

He signed, and she took a look through the hole in the hall.

There was a sitting room on the other side of the wall, which was now filled with their panicked party guest.

"You just called him your knight." He stated, as if it were a fact. "As in your knight in shining armor?"

She took a step back from the wall, looking at him with furrowed brows.

"I certainly did not." She said sternly.

He just turned his back on her and started walking again.

"Is it weird that I listen, when people think out loud." He asked.

"I didn't say anything." She said, still sternly, while following him. Her heels clicking against the stone floor.

"I get it. I get it." He signed over his shoulder.

People where all like that, when they started talking out loud.

They walked in silence. When suddenly a voiced reached him.

It was like a compulsion: "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

It was so loud he pressed his hands against his ears, it was almost like it had invaded his head, pounding the words into his brain.

"Victor, are you all right?" Perdita asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

His turned to her, grimacing.

"Can't you hear it?" He asked through grinded teeth.

"Hear what?" She asked, tilting her head.

Instead of answering he looked around the narrow passageway.

"Where are we?" He asked, still through grinded teeth. He sounded like he was in a lot of pain.

"The southern wing," she answered.

He scrambled to the next peephole.

Perdita followed him confused, and a little scared.

"Look." He said and took a step back.

She stepped in front of him and looked through the hole.

A woman dressed in black from head to toe, the only thing she could see was her blue eyes.

She was standing completely still, with her side to the painting, almost like she was listen for something.

She took a step back.

She looked at Victor, then at the peephole and back again.

How did he know she would be there?

"What…" Before she could say anything else he clasped a hand over her mouth.

"Oh, there you are your little highness." The person on the other side of the peephole said in an odd hysterical voice she had never heard before and turned around, so she was now facing the peephole.

She took another step back, but she could still see the woman on the other side, who was now coming towards them.

She couldn't know they were there, could she?

"Get down!" Victor suddenly said and pushed her down.

"What are you doing?" She whispered, as she was suddenly lying on the stone floor with him on top of her.

He was still for a moment, almost looked confuse. Then he got up and helped her to her feet.

"Look," he said gestured to the peephole.

She looked through it.

Her view was obscured by something yellow.

Her brows furrowed in confused, but she couldn't stop herself from smiling, when she heard his voice.

"These are really dangerous you know."

* * *

He had stopped the throwing star in midair. Just before it hit the painting, and he had a scratch on his hand to prove it.

But why had she tried to attack a painting?

He glanced at the painting over his shoulder.

It was a painting of a family of four, formally dressed, nothing seemed odd about it. But then he saw that one of the children had a, very life-like, green eye, while the other eye was blue.

He looked back at the shadow.

How did she know they were behind the painting?

"Oh, I know." She almost sounded like she was smiling. "That's kind of the point."

"I'm not going to let you kill a little girl." He just said, waiting for her to attack him.

"Not even if I give you another kiss?" She asked, she almost seemed like … she was flirting.

"Are you really a shadow?" The words just fell from his mouth.

She took a step back. She seemed almost taken aback. "Why?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Because you seem … so alive."

He really had idea, why he was having this conversation.

"Is this a reference to your bad zombie joke?" Now she sounded sarcastic. "But could you step aside? I have a monarch to kill." She tried to throw a throwing star over his shoulder, but he caught it in the air.

"No, I'll stay here." He said.

Somehow there was something off with this whole situation. At least, apart from him standing in front of a psycho trying to kill a ten-year-old girl.

She threw a smoke bomb at him.

He quickly switched his goggles to heat vision.

As soon as he got a visual on her he ran towards her, knocking her over.

She got up, wobbling. She was standing halfway in the smoke, halfway out.

"That's no way to treat a lady…" She mumbled.

"I doubt your lady," He said.

He had to find a way to get her away from the kids. Maybe towards the ballroom, he had to make sure Artemis was okay.

"Maybe your right." She made gesture with her hand, and suddenly she had five throwing stars in her hand, holding them like playing cards. "So, let's me show you how unladylike I am."

* * *

"So, what's the deal? Daddy didn't give you enough attention, so you swished sides?" He asked as his staff collided with her bow.

"Do you always talk this much?" Artemis asked and bend backwards, causing him to fall forward over her and land on the floor behind her.

The guy got up, rubbing the back of his neck.

He shrugged. "It's how I deal with this."

He charged at her again.

She swung at him with her bow.

"Deal with it?" She repeated.

She couldn't really understand how she was having a conversation with this guy, but then … here she was…

"Yeah…" the guy breathed. "I've been send here to kill a little girl." Then he shrugged. "That's hard to deal with."

Then he took hold of her wrist spun her around and hurled her towards a wall.

She glided over the floor, but duck her nails into the floor, which slowed her to a stop before she hit the floor.

She quickly got up and took a quick look at her nails. So much for that manicure Zatanna had given her.

She looked at the guy. "You're insane." She said and placed an arrow on the bowstring.

He made a bowing gesture, like she had just paid him a compliment.

"And now, also extremely bored." He added what she had just said. "So, how about I finish you off now?"

Suddenly there was a loud bang, and then a pair of double doors to her right burst open and Wally stumbled backwards into the room, bleeding from his left hand.

The shadow stepped into the room.

She moved her head from side to side, like she was looking around the room, then turned back to Kid Flash. "Oh, you lead me right back here."

"Kid?" Artemis almost caught herself in calling him Wally. "Are you okay?" She asked, while dropping her bow and arrow and hurrying towards him.

"Artemis!" He said alarmed.

It was like a reflex. She made a quick move to the left and the red substance the guy had slung after her, flew past her.

Wally tried to move, but the red gooey substance stuck one of his feet to the floor and splashed onto his booths.

Then he turned towards the shadow and lifted his injured hand and seemed to catch something in the air. He winced in pain.

"Let's go Red X," the shadow said.

"But what about…"

"Now!" She said.

"So bossy…" he mumbled as they head for the balcony, the same way they came in.

Artemis kneel beside Kid Flash; a throwing star fell from his bleeding hand.

"Wally…" she whispered.

"I'm fine," he said through grinned teeth. "Go after them."

She nodded and got up.

* * *

Outside the wind had picked up.

She placed an arrow on her bow and send it flying.

The guy jumped off the balcony, just before it could hit him, and the arrow disappeared into the darkness.

The girl, the shadow, stopped on the balustrade and turned towards her.

Artemis put another arrow on her bow's string and pointed in at the shadow.

The shadow pulled off her mask, letting her black hair fall down her shoulder and showing her a wide smile, her blue eyes glittered in the darkness.

It was Lia!

"I guess you're pretty good, after all Artemis." She said with a smug smile.

Artemis was stunned.

Then Lia just flung herself of the balcony, into the darkness.

* * *

 **There ... I hope you like it.**

 **And _Human_? I'll make a note of your comment and change it, when I edit my story, as soon as it is finish. for some reason I thought crayons dissolved in water.**

 **This is still far from finished, so I hope you keep reading :)**


	49. Chapter 49

**I'm back.**

 **And I hope you like it.**

* * *

"Wally are you okay?" She asked as she came back into the ballroom.

"Yeah," he said in a strained voice and stood completely still, like he hadn't moved a muscle.

"What is this?" She asked and knelt down next to the puddle of red substance.

"Don't touch it!" Wally snapped, as she reached towards it.

Her fingers stopped in midair.

"It's Xenothium, if you touch it you'll be stuck too." He said, still strained.

"Xenothium?" Artemis asked, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. "I think, I've heard about it before."

"Yes," he said through gritted teeth. "When me and Lia was kidnapped by the League of Shadows, that's what they wanted us to weaponize."

"But … you didn't finish, did you?" Artemis asked.

"No." he hissed out through his teeth. "They must have found another person who could complete." He hissed again. "Could you get me out of here, it's starting to get painful."

"How? If I can't touch it…"

"Use … use one of your … pointy arrows! … and … cut through my costume!" He huffed.

"Okay…" She said and pulled out one of the arrows of quiver.

She just had to be careful.

She put the pointy edge to the leg of his costume, a few centimeters above the xenothium splatter, and slowly drew a line around his leg, cutting the costume.

"Good," he said. "Help me out."

Artemis helped him step back. He left the foot of his costume in the xenothium.

"Good…" he breathed and turned to her. "What happened to the assassins?"

"They… " Should she tell him about Lia. "They got away, and the girl…"

"Well," Wally said, interrupting her. "at least the queen and her cousin is safe."

"Yes, well…" she almost stuttered. Trying to get the words out in the correct order.

Suddenly a portrait on the wall, swung open like a door, revealing the two children behind it.

"See?" The boy said and stepped down on the wall and held a hand up for her, to help her down. "I told you it would be safe."

The little queen nodded and looked at them, especial Kid Flash.

"Oh, dear." She said, put a hand over her mouth. "Are you allright?"

Wally looked down himself.

With the costume ripped at the leg and the still bleeding hand, he could understand her reaction.

"Don't worry, your highness. I'll heal in a little while." He smiled politely.

"You should at least let my personal physician," She said, then she looked around. "What is that?" she said, gesturing to the xenothium, all over the ballroom.

Wally straightened his back a bit. "A highly dangerous substance, your highness. Please don't have anyone touch, or try to clean it, we'll send instructions on how to get rid of it."

She nodded politely again.

Wally glanced at her cousin.

He was looking at them, then at the balcony.

Could he have been in on this plot?

"Victor, could you go find our guest and direct them to the northern ballroom?" The queen asked.

"Fine!" he hissed. "Why don't you people just lock me up, since you don't trust me!"

He slammed the door behind him.

"Does that happen often?" Kid Flash asked, breaking the silence.

"His outburst?" The little queen signed and rubbed her forehead, like a frustrated parent. "Unfortunately, yes, from what I'm being told. He'll scream and hiss at people about talking and being loud without them even saying a word. Just a few moments ago he accused me of saying something quite preposterous."

"Hmm," Wally said rubbing his chin.

"To be truthful, I wonder if there is something … wrong with him."

"Well," Artemis said, feeling the tension rise. "Since it isn't dangerous for you anymore, we should leave…"

"She's right." Kid Flash nodded. "I'll go get changed and be on our way."

"Oh, but you must get looked at by my physician, if nothing else, to appease my mind. And you should stay to the end of the ball."

"We couldn't…" Artemis started.

"Nonsense, I insist." The little girl said. Then her smile grew a little bit wider. "Think of it as a reward, for saving my life."

Artemis and Wally looked at each other.

"It would be best to wait until the ball is over and then leave with the rest of the crowd, no one would suspect us that way." Wally reason.

Artemis just nodded, she really just wanted to go home, but…

Wally looked at Queen Perdita as they left the ballroom together. "Rest assured, your highness, I don't think there is anything … wrong with your cousin," he said with a smile.

* * *

"Did we fulfil the mission?" Red X asked.

"Of course, I wouldn't have left if I didn't." She said from under her mask.

"Good, I'd hate to go back there now."

"Our way out, should be just on the other side of that forest." She said.

"Good," he breathed and pulled up his mask.

Suddenly he bended over coughing.

She looked at him confused, not sure what to do. Should she help or just leave.

Blood came out his mouth and dripped onto his hands.

He breathed deeply and stood up straight again.

"I'm okay, let's get going." He said calmly but starred at his bloody hand with concerned.

* * *

He signed in relief.

That horrible birthday party was finally over.

The last people had been escorted to the door, even those heroes, or whatever they were supposed to be.

He stretched his arm sleepy, as the maids followed him down the castle hallway.

Because the party had lasted a bit too long, it had been to late for him to go home, and he would stay the night, in his … the former count's room.

"My lord," the butler, walking in front of him, said and stopped at a white door. "Your room."

He signed, as the maids followed him in and started unbuttoning his military jacket.

He let his eyes glide over the walls, trying not to look at the polite, yet stiff, faces of the three maids.

His eyes stopped at a big painting hanging on the wall next to the bed.

He knew it well. It was a copy of one that hung in his estate. The former count had properly put it there, when he decorated the room.

Though it was a bit creepy how an adult man, had a painting of himself and his sister as children hanging beside his bed.

He understood, why people thought him and Perdita looked like their parents, they were almost identical to the twins in the painting, apart from the girl in the picture having slightly wavier.

The maid in front of him bend down to open the last few buttons on his jackets.

He bit his lip, trying to ignore their talking, and their existence in general. Like Nana had told him to do.

They had to be around his age eleven, maybe twelve years old.

They properly had a horrible birthday, just like him … if he remembered correctly, the portrait had been painted to commemorate their finest birthday gift.

He was glad, he'd never had to do that.

The gift had been a pair of necklaces … with stones matching each of their eyes. They were wearing them in the painting. The former count's had been a simple, thick leather string with the gold imbedded stone. While the former queen, his aunt, had a necklace of white pearls and…

He pulled away from the maids, then they had just pulled of his jacket.

He knew he had seen that necklace before!

"Young lord!" The maids protested.

He was already halfway to the door.

"I need to see the Queen! Right this instance!" He said over his shoulder.

* * *

"You know, this was kind of fun." Artemis smiled.

"I'm glad you liked it, my lady." He said using a British accent.

Her smiled got wider, as they walked down the castle's front steps.

"You know, I feel like I got see a different side of you, like you were more…"

"Refined?" Wally asked with a wicked smile and a raised eyebrow. He let out a laugh. "And I got to see a jealous side of you."

Artemis pulled back, offended.

"You're the one who said you liked that side of me."

"I do," he said. "Makes me feel desired."

She stopped herself from giggling.

"But seriously, Wally. I really didn't expect you to be like this, at all."

"It seems like, there was a lot of things you didn't expect," he said. "Like the Queen of Vlatava been ten-years-old."

She felt her cheeks grow warm.

"I thought she'd be older." She defended herself. "A lot older."

"Why would you think that?" Wally asked.

"My mom. She said that the queen would be about her age."

Wally knitted his brows together. "Why would she think that?"

Artemis shrugged. "Don't know. She just said that if the queen was who she though, she was, then they would be around the same age."

"I don't know, what's worse. That you thought that I was going to take my chances with a queen, or that you thought that she was a woman old enough to be my mother."

Aretmis shook her head smiling and looked down at his bandaged hand.

"Is it bad?" She asked concerned.

He shook his head, smiling. "No, it doesn't even hurt. I just kept it on to keep the queen happy."

She leaned her head on his shoulder, smiling. "I'm surprised a dance couldn't do it."

He shrugged smiling. "Blame my mom for that. She insisted on raising a gentleman, part of that was taking dance classes with Lia since I started school"

Artemis turned stiff.

That was right. Lia!

She had to tell him about her.

"Artemis?" Wally asked confused, turning to her. "Are you okay?"

His hands were placed on both her shoulders, concerned.

"Yeah … Wally, about Lia…" Before she could say anymore, she was interrupted by someone behind them.

"Wallace?"

Wally turned stiff but turned around. Artemis followed his gaze.

An elderly couple was standing atop the steps, looking down at them. The man had hard eyes.

The elderly woman was the one who had helped her with Ra's al Ghul.

When they had _talked_ to Queen Bee, she had pointed to the man as Baron Branigan.

There was dead silent.

Suddenly a servant came running out from the castle.

"Young sir and miss!" He huffed, bending over trying to catch his breath. Then he said something in Russian, sounded like a blessing or something. "The queen wished to speak to you, immediately."

Wally blinked.

"Yes, of course." He said and nodded and pulled a confused Artemis with him past the elderly couple, who watched them like hawks.

* * *

 **The last past I might change, there is something missing.**

 **If you can see what, please tell me :)**


	50. Chapter 50

**This is a bit of a filler**

 **but enjoy.**

* * *

Their footsteps echoed through the room.

"Your Majesty?" Wally asked. Uneasy about the guards presented in the study and the hard look in the little girl's eyes. She looked like she was about to murder someone. "Is there something wrong."

Artemis glanced at Wally nervously.

The queen starred at her with eyes glowing of anger and revenge, while her cousin was looking at her with concern.

The queen's eyes shifted to Wally.

"Your companion … is a thief." Her voice shook, telling them just hard it was for her to remain calm.

"Pardon?" Wally asked with a raised eyebrow.

Him and Artemis looked at each other. Artemis shrugged, she was as confused as he was.

"To think that you would wear stolen jewels to a ball hosted by the family you stole them from!" The little girl dug her nails into the armchair, she was sitting on. "That takes a certain kind of …nerve!"

"Miss…" Wally said nervously and glanced at Artemis again. "I'm not sure what you are…"

"The necklace she is wearing," Count Victor explained. "It belonged to the former queen."

Wally turned around to look at her.

Artemis touched the necklace and starred down at it, confused and petrified.

She couldn't be wearing a stolen necklace. How would that even be in … her mother's jewelry … box…

Her eyes grew wide.

This … wasn't good.

Wally looked at the necklace and turned back to the queen.

"Were you in on the assassination attempt?" The queen asked in an incredibly calm voice.

"Excuse me?" Artemis asked.

"Were you apart of the attempt on my life?" The little girl asked with a hard look on his face.

"No!" Artemis said shaking her head violently. "And I didn't steal it…" she stopped. Technically she had taken the necklace without her mom's permission. "I … I got it from my mom…"

The little count leaned down to his cousin's eye.

"The necklace did go missing about twenty years ago," He whispered, loud enough for Wally and Artemis hear. "She couldn't have been the one to steal it."

The little queen narrowed her eyes at Artemis. "Never the less, I invited you into my home, I put faith…" The little girl, in anger, was lost for words.

"Your majesty…" Wally said and took a trying step forward. Like the little girl in front of him was going to explode any minute. "I'm sure that there is a reasonable explanation to this…"

He didn't seem too sure though.

"A strange has shown up before me, wearing an heirloom from my mother. Is there a need for further explanation?" She asked and then turned her attention to Artemis. "The royal guard will keep you here, until security officers can come."

The little count bended down again.

"He is right, Perdita…" he whispered in her ear. "We should at least investigate this. If she happens to be innocent, we'll have it on our neck forever."

His cousin looked up at him with a confused raised eyebrow.

He signed and correct himself. "The counsel of ministers will never forget it."

"Then you want me to keep a possible thief and assassin under my roof, while we investigate?" She was almost sneering.

The 12-year-old straightened his back.

"They can stay at my estate, while this thing gets cleared up." He said, suddenly sounding mature. "And if … she is guilty, then … I'm sure you have a right punishment for her."

The little queen looked at Wally and Artemis, her eyes were still hard, but also hesitant.

She leaned her head to one side.

"Okay, then." She said, after what seemed like a long time. "But neither of them are to leave your estate at any time, until this is … cleared up."

Wally signed relieved.

"Thank you, your majesty." He breathed.

Artemis just stood there, staring at the little angry girl.

"Then," the 12-year-old count said. "I think it's best we take our leave." He gestured to the door behind then. "Shall we go?"

* * *

Kaldor tapped his fingers on the chair impatiently.

"Miss Martian!" He said.

She understood, her eyes turning green.

 _Wally_ , they all heard. _When are you going to come out?_

 _Small problem on our end, guys…_ they heard Wally over the mind link. _We've been accused of stealing from the royal family._

"What?" Robin said out loud.

 _It's a long story…_ Artemis said over the mind-link.

 _We'll handled it, we'll probably be here a week times…_ Wally said ending their conversation.

The rest teenagers in the spaceship turned to Kaldor.

"What do we do now?" Zatanna asked.

"Let's return to the cave." He said after a while. "We probably can't help them now."

Miss Martian nodded and turned the spaceship around.

* * *

The car was silent.

Wally kept his eyes on the Perdita's cousin.

He had glanced in their direction, when they had been mind-linked with the others but hadn't said anything.

Artemis uncharacteristically leaned up against him.

The fear and uncertainty clear in her eyes.

Wally had a theory about this guy but…

"Don't think anything of what I'm doing." The suddenly said. He sounded different than when he was with Perdita. More serious.

"We didn't." Wally stated.

"You just said you did." The little count said and looked at them, instead of looking out the window.

"If … we did…" Artemis's voice shook. "Why did you help us?"

"You might thief but considering how many times you two have contemplated me role in the assassination, I doubt you were in on it."

Artemis and Wally looked at each other.

Just how much of what they had been saying or doing, had he overheard?

"A lot." He then said, returning to staring out the window.

He let out a breath.

"I've called my head maid and informed her of your arrival. You'll have a room each with help, if you should need it. In the morning I'll like to hear how exactly you got hold of that necklace." The last part was directed at Artemis.

She touched the green stone and looked up at him.

"I'll ask you to give it to me when we get to my estate." He said, without looking at her.

"And when will that be?" Wally asked.

The little count glanced up at him again.

"About two minutes."

* * *

Artemis looked around the elegant bedroom.

"They went out of their way for a couple of criminals," she said with a bitter smile.

"Yeah," Wally said, he seemed to be a thousand miles away.

She signed and sat down on the bed.

"What do we do now?" She asked hopelessy.

This night really hadn't gone like she thought.

First Lia showed up and now she was accused of stealing of the queen of a country, she hadn't known existed a week ago.

Wally sat down next to her.

"We'll get through it," he said putting his arm around her. "But for now, we should call our parents, fill them in on what's going on here, then get some sleep."

"Good plan." She said exhausted and leaned against him.

"Then I'll go and call mine now." He said and kissed her on the cheek and left the room.

She stood up.

Not really knowing what to do next.

She started to take the rest of her jewelry of, the earrings, and the ring Wally had giving her.

The ring looked like it was made of silver and small dark green stones.

She should probably give it back to Wally.

She yawned. She would do that in the morning.

As she started changing, the door swung open.

"Miss, the count asked to look after…"

She turned around to look at the maid, who just then dropped the towels she was holding, while staring at Artemis.

Shock and puzzlement painted on her face.

There was something weird about the maid, she seemed familiar with her dark curls and bronzed skin and unusual eyes, but Artemis couldn't place her.

The maid blinked and opened her mouth to speak in a calm tone with a Spanish accent: "Are you the assassin?"

* * *

 **I don't really like this chapter, and wil probably rewrite it.**

 **I was a bit stressed when I wrote this.**

 **My exam period started today, so I don't know when I'll update again.**

 **I hope I see you next time :)**


	51. Chapter 51

**I'm back!**

 **And I have a new chapter, I hope you like it :)**

* * *

Artemis took a step backwards in shock. "Why do you think that?"

The maid looked her up and down, then her eyes changed. They turned from brown to yellow and the dark part of her pupil narrowed and became like a cat's.

They looked just like the little count's eyes when they had danced together.

"The dress you're wearing…" She seemed like she was unsure.

Artemis looked down at the dress, then up at the maid, confused.

Then she suddenly shook her head violently and looked at Artemis, as she picked up the towels and put them on a dresser.

"I'm very sorry, miss. I'll send someone else in to help you." She said and slowly walked out the door and closed it behind her.

Artemis stared at the door.

What had just happened?

A few minutes went by, where she just stood there.

Then she shook her head and shrugged.

That weird maid was just one more weird thing on top of all the other weird things that had happened today.

She glanced over at the telephone placed on a coffee table.

Now would be as good a time as any to call her mother … and tell her that she had taken the necklace…

* * *

She leaned up against the door and took a deep breath.

That dress and that fur jacket … she had picked that out for huntress, so many years ago.

That girl was wearing it, she had gotten it from huntress and she was raised to be an assassin, she had gathered as much from her mind.

But why would she be here?

She wasn't the assassin, but was she a message?

A message to her that the master needed her again? That something was coming? Or…

Her eyes got wide with fear.

Or had he found out about the boy?!

She gasped silently.

If he had, what would he do?

She shook her head. She couldn't guess her way to an answer, she had to figure this out.

The old fashion way, if she had to.

"Is there something wrong?"

She looked up. Rozalina was standing in front of her with a laundry basket, looking at her with concern.

She rubbed her forehead.

"I'm just tired and I need to help this girl, but…"

"I'll do it." Rozalina breathed. "As soon as I get this down to the wash room."

* * *

"Yeah, dad." He signed.

"You're going to miss a week of school, because you're accused of stealing?"

Wally gulped.

This was going to be hard, but it had to work.

"Look dad, this is just a misunderstanding." He began. "There was a necklace that went missing a few years ago, and they think we took it."

"And you can't just tell them you didn't and come home?"

Wally signed. "No, dad please … I'll make up for the classes I'm going to miss, just let me do this?"

There was a sign on the other end.

"Okay, if you make up for all the classes you missed, but don't you ever do this again…"

Wally signed relieved and smiled. "Thanks dad, I'll be back as soon as I can."

The phone went dead.

He smiled relieved.

That was one hurdle … now to prove that Artemis wasn't a thief.

* * *

"You did what?!"

Artemis held the phone away from her ear, while her mother started sputtering curse words in Vietnamese.

She bit her lip.

"You have no idea, what you just did." Her mother scolded through the telephone.

She shook her head slowly.

"No, I didn't," She breathed. "But mom, I'm in trouble, they think I stole it."

Suddenly her mother's voice changed.

"Stole it?" She said. "But why would they…" There was a few seconds of silence. Artemis didn't know what to do. Then her mom said something. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Then she hung up.

Artemis stared at the phone. Now this day couldn't get any weirder. She hoped at least.

* * *

Wally knocked on the door.

"Come in." Artemis said from the other side of the door.

Wally opened the door and stopped.

In the room a young girl in a maid uniform was standing behind Artemis, fingering with something on the back of an old-style nightgown, she was wearing.

He blinked a few times, then stepped into the room.

"How did it go with your mom?" He asked.

Artemis glanced at the maid behind her, but she didn't seem to pay attention to them at all.

"She was angry." She just said.

"Yeah, my dad was too. Do you think she stole necklace?" He said.

She shook her head.

"No, but she said she's coming."

Wally raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Then he shrugged and took a few steps closer. "Well, I guess, she could help explain how the necklace ended up here."

Artemis bit her lip.

"Miss, is there anything else you need help with?" The maid asked in broken English.

Artemis shook her head. "No thank you."

The girl curtsied. "Then I'll take my leave."

Both of them watched her, as she closed the door behind her.

Then Wally turned back to Artemis. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Artemis took a step backwards. "What do you mean?"

"You bit you lip, what's wrong?"

Artemis froze, then she signed. "I kind of took the necklace from my mom's jewelery box, without asking…"

"What?" Wally asked.

Artemis made a despondent gesture with her hands. "Mom had already left, and … I just … kind of saw it and…"

Wally shook his head. "You took a necklace from your mom, so you technical stole it."

"No," Artemis said.

Wally took her hand. "Sorry … I didn't mean it like that, it's just…"

Suddenly Artemis launched forward and wrapped her arms around him.

Wally blinked, a little confused.

"Wally, this … it is scaring me." She whispered.

Wally smiled and put his arms around her too. "Don't worry, your mom can surely fix this."

"I don't think she can…"

Wally shook his head, still smiling. "Have a little faith…"

They broke off the hug.

"Look," Wally said. "Tomorrow is going to be a better day, this will all get figured out and it'll be okay."

Artemis let out a small smile. "Okay."

Then she leaned in to kiss him, but Wally stopped her by putting two fingers to her lips.

"Now are you sure you want to do that? While you're wearing this _virtuous_ nightgown?" He asked with his glittering in amusement and gestured to her clothes.

Artemis looked down herself, then up at him, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"I didn't really bring my own!"

Wally smiled brightly and kissed her.

"Sleep tight," he said as he closed the door behind.

Artemis shook her head smiling.

Sometimes she had a feeling she would never understand Wally.

* * *

She knocked on the door and called out for the boy inside, though she knew he wouldn't be there.

"Young lord?"

"Come in…" a voice said from the other side of the door.

In shock she opened the door and found the young boy sitting on his bed in his pajamas, waiting for her.

She closed the door behind her, while staring at the boy.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked with his light Spanish accent

"You aren't usually here at this time." She said and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"We have a lot to do today." He said and pulled his arms out of the shirt and stood up. "I don't have time to run away from all the loud-talking people in this estate."

"Loud-talking people?" She asked as she helped him put on his pants and tighten his belt.

He didn't answer.

"The girl I send you to attend to, how was she?" He asked instead.

"I asked another maid to do it," she answered, while she found a shirt in a drawer.

He gave her a funny look and a what seemed like a tenth of a second his eyes changed.

She stared at him.

Had he inherited her power?

"Then …" the clock stuck eight. He looked at the maid. "Sara, could you hurry? I don't want to be late."

* * *

 **I'll try to write next week :)**

 **and I hope that the fact that I haven't written on this for a long time doesn't show**


	52. Chapter 52

**This is a filler (I think) but bear with it untill next week :)**

* * *

"This way, Sir." The blond maid said as she led them towards the dining room.

Wally leaned towards Artemis.

"How did you sleep?" He whispered.

She shook her head. "Good, I guess … I'm really nervous about all of this."

Wally smiled. "Yeah me too."

Artemis glanced up at him as they continued to walk.

In all this confusion she hadn't had time to tell him about Lia … or ask him about that old couple, what was that name again? Something with a B…?

"Here it is Sir, Miss." The maid said and pushed open a big door.

Inside was a big dining table, large enough to seat thirty people, and at the end of it, the little blond count sat.

"Come in…" He said.

An older woman gestured to two seats on the long side of the table.

"Please eat," he said, as two servants came in with breakfast and tea.

"Mi Lord, before you begin your discussion, there's a letter from your father." The old woman said to the boy and pulled a letter out of her pocket.

As soon as she said it, the boy tensed up.

Wally watched him curiously.

She put the letter in front of him.

He barely looked at it before he flung it away from him.

"Young lord!" The older woman sounded horrified. "You have guests!"

The blond boy glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"You thought, I would read it, because they are here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Wally tried to hide his smile.

This little count seemed a bit feisty.

The boy signed and looked at the two of them.

"Now, I'll like to hear, before my cousin comes in the afternoon, how did you get that necklace." He said and put his teacup to his lips and then grimaced.

"Umh…" Artemis started fidgeting. "I kind of just found it, in my mom's jewelry box."

The boy raised an eyebrow at her. "Then … it's your mom we should be talking to?"

"I called her last night, she's coming as fast as she can."

He nodded. "I'll arrange for someone to pick her up at the airport."

Then he leaned his head to one side. "So, did you just decide to take the necklace?"

Artemis tensed up and signed irritated. Was everyone going to reprimand her?

"Yes, it went well with my dress, so I decided to take it." She sneered.

"And she never told you, how she got it?" He continued.

She shook her head. "No, I've never seen her wear it."

He rubbed his chin, then glanced at the old woman again. "Please leave," Nobody moved. "All of you!"

Then everyone headed for the door.

He took a bit of his toast. "Is there any way, your mother could have stolen it."

Artemis' eyes grew big and she looked down.

Wally looked at her concerned.

"Yes," she said after a while. "She could have…"

The boy nodded again.

"The necklace was stolen a little over twenty years ago, how old would she have been then?"

Artemis narrowed her eyes in thought.

She shook her head, not believing the result. "She wouldn't have been older than I am now."

The boy nodded again. And they sat in silence and ate for a while.

"Can you call her, your mother?" He then asked. "I would very much like to talk to her about this."

Artemis got up. "Yes, I'll call her right away."

"Good," the boy said and got up too.

"Can I have a talk with you?" Wally said fast.

The boy looked at him confused.

"Yes, yes of course."

* * *

There had been silent for quite a while.

"What did you want to talk about?" The boy asked, he seemed like he just wanted Wally to go away.

Wally regarded him, while they kept walking.

"Can I call you Victor?" He then asked.

The boy tensed up.

"I'd rather you didn't." He said and looked down.

"Then what should I call you?"

"My … mother called me Carlos." He said in a whisper.

Wally nodded.

 _Carlos, what do you think of your father?_

He looked at the count, but he didn't react at all.

"Where are we going?" Wally asked.

"Out to the forest," he said. "Since you're here, escorting me, they'll probably let me go that far."

"Let you?" Wally asked.

Carlos shook his head. "I'm … frail to all these people…" he gestured towards the main building they had just left. "The reason this family is called Vertigo, is because all the male heirs have Vertigo. And because of that everyone is walking on eggshells around me…"

"So, you have vertigo?" Wally asked.

He shook his head again. "It sets in when I hit puberty."

"But you're twelve…"

He nodded. "I'm like a ticking time bomb, any moment, any day, I could not be able to stand up."

Is that why he acted so immature back there, because he blames Count Vertigo and everything else here for his … impending disease?

Count Carlos glanced at him. "Immature? No, that's not the reason…"

Wally glanced at him.

Now he read his mind?

"Then did you read his mind?" He asked.

The boy glanced up at him, his eyes had changed.

"Read his mind? I can't do that."

 _Then why do your eyes have changed?_ Wally thought and stared Carlos right in the eye.

The boy stared at him.

Wally raised an eyebrow.

Did he not know he could read minds?

"No, I did not…" the boy said and looked like his eyes were about to roll out of his sockets.

Wally blinked.

He had messed up, really bad.

"Hey, sorry…" as he was about reached out for the boy.

He suddenly fell to the ground.

Wally caught him.

He looked at the unconscious boy.

"Victor?!"

He looked up.

Queen Perdita came running towards them.

She knelt down next to him, as best she could in her dress.

"Is it the vertigo?" She asked, panic written in her face.

Wally looked down at the twelve-year-old again.

"I don't know your majesty, but we need to get him some help."

* * *

She sat with her feet dangling from the table.

Just a few more seconds and the analyze would be complete.

Then a beep.

She smiled and jumped down from the table.

If it was a good result, then she could get the master's favor and that … would lead her to complete her own goal.

She looked at the DNA analyzes and smiled.

They matched, this would definitely please the master.

Suddenly the door behind her opened.

"Master," she smiled. "I have good news."

"Sadly, I have not." He said and showed her a Russian news article.

She looked at it: **Queen Perdita survives assassination attempt and continues party.**

Her eyes got big. Her and Red X hadn't completed their mission?

But she had flung a throwing star right past Kid Flash, she couldn't have…

She fell to her knees. "I'm so sorry, Master. I'll not fail you again, I promise!"

The man just raised an eyebrow at her. "And what about the other part of your mission?"

She was on her feet like lighting.

"Yes, master." She said and handed him the analyzes.

He looked at them both.

"So, I was correct." He smiled and let his thumb run over a picture of the young woman, he hadn't seen in years. "Sword Dancer, she's the new count's mother … this will be an advantage, when the time comes."

The girl in front of him was shaking, scared of what was going to happen next.

He looked at her and smiled gently. "You did good, my dear Lia, this will surely play out in my favor, in time…"

She let out a breath, as he closed the door behind him.

She was safe, for now, and could still work towards her goal.

She stepped towards the computer.

Though she would never had guessed that, that blond haired boy would be the son of Sword Dancer, one of the three deadliest assassins in the League of Shadows at one time.

* * *

 **I read on Young Justice's wiki site, that Artemis' mom is 48 at this point, but for the sake of the plot let's pretend she could be a young teenage girl some 20 years ago.**

 **Otherwise hope you enjoyed it and will keep on reading.**


	53. Chapter 53

**And I'm back again**

 **Thanks for reviews by the way :)**

* * *

"I'm sorry."

Wally looked up at the little queen confused.

"For the … scene on the yard." She said and pulled her spoon out of her teacup and lightly hit it against the edge of the teacup, as to shake off the few drops of tea still on it.

"There's no need to apologize, your majesty." He said and took a sip of his tea.

The girl smiled as she too took a sip of her tea.

"Can you tell me what happened please?"

"He got overwhelmed," he said, not sure how he should explain it to her.

"Overwhelmed?" She echoed and signed in relief with a smile. Then she seemed to remember he was there and straightened her back and her face again got serious. "I thought, it was something more serious…"

"Like vertigo?" Wally asked.

Queen Perdita leaned her head to one side and looked at him with suspicion.

"He told me that he had it, or will have it, when he hits puberty." He quickly said.

She nodded and took another sip of her tea. "It happens to all boys in my un… Victor's family, when they are about thirteen years old." She signed into her teacup. "It can differ from generation to generation, some barely feels the effect of it, others can barely stand."

Wally nodded. "And you fear that the latter will happen to … Victor?"

She gave him a confused look, when he in confusion pondered what to call the count, but nodded. "My uncle was like that, he could rarely leave his bed."

Wally leaned his head to the side. He didn't seem to have that problem anymore…

"Is this … illness the reason that the count's family name is Vertigo?"

The queen put a hand over her mouth, but her eyes showed her amusement.

"Did I say something amusing, your highness?"

She relaxed her hand, but still held it in front of her mouth as if to keep herself from laughing.

"No, but it is quite an amusing story," she cleared her throat and straightened her back again. "You see, some generations ago a diplomat from southern Europe came to visit the then count and brought with him his son, who studied medicine. Now, the count at the time had a very long family name, which was very hard for diplomat, and others to say, and had vertigo too. Nevertheless, the count and diplomat's visit went well, though the count often would have to excuse himself because of his vertigo. Which the diplomat's son recognized as vertigo, and because he could not pronounce, or remember, the count name he would refer to him as Count Vertigo, and apparently it stuck to the count's family, even after the diplomat and his son went home."

Wally tried not to laugh at the odd story.

He took a deep breath.

"Excuse me, Madam?"

Both of them turned towards an elderly maid, it was the same one that had been in the dining hall.

"Yes, Nana, is Victor okay?" The queen asked.

The elder woman smiled kindly. "Do not worry Madam, he just needs to rest."

She signed in relief. "Thank you, Nana will you stay with him for now."

The woman curtsies. "Of course, your highness."

Then she left.

Queen Perdita took another sip of tea.

"You're very worried about him," Wally said.

"He is my only family." She just said into her teacup.

Wally huffed and drank the rest of his tea.

"Your worry can cause him to … act out, if you're not careful." He said.

He regretted saying it, as soon as it left his mouth.

"I do not worry about that, though I do worry about his outburst." She said.

Wally wet hid lips. "Your majesty, I don't think they're because he has a mental problem, as I told you before."

She raised an eyebrow. "Then how do you explain his outbursts?"

He bit his lip. "I think he reads minds."

She looked at him with big eyes. "Reads minds, that's absurd!"

He nodded in agreement. "Yes, and I think he doesn't realize that's what he's doing."

"How can that be?" The queen was clearly confused.

"Think back, your highness, before an outburst did he look at anyone?"

She seemed to think for a while, then shook her head.

Wally nodded. "He never looks at the person, who's mind he is reading and just think they are talking to him, though he doesn't seem to have any control over his … ability…"

She signed in silent relief.

"Then it's not because of his upbringing…"

Wally looked at her confused.

His upbringing? But he was just 12…

"What do you mean?" He asked.

The queen seemed shocked at herself.

"Here we are, Miss." They heard and saw a servant coming towards them with Artemis in toe.

The queen frowned.

"My mom will be at the airport in an hour." She said as she sat down.

"Will you bring us some more tea?" Perdita asked the servant and he disappeared right away. "Why is your mother coming?" She then asked Artemis.

Artemis clearly picked up on the hostile tone. "So we can figure out what's going on."

The queen nodded. "That makes sense, I'll send someone for her."

"Then it's the only thing that does." Artemis snapped.

"Artemis!" Wally warned.

She gave him a look. Not sure what side he was on. "Look, I'm just saying that she's making a whole lot of a stolen necklace."

Before Wally could calm Artemis, the queen spoke up.

"That necklace is part of a pair, that was given to my mother, who died alongside my father in a tragic accident when I was five." She said in a stoic tone, with an expressionless face,

Artemis stared at her in shocked silence.

Then the little queen just turned to Wally. "Where were we?"

Wally glanced at Artemis, then looked at the queen. "You were telling me about your cousin's upbringing…?"

"Oh, yes…" she folded her hands in her lap. "You see, Victor started his lives as a servant at this estate, he was taken in by … the former count, when he realized Victor was his son."

Artemis and wally gave each other a funny look.

"What about his mother?" Artemis asked.

"A maid, as far as I understand."

Artemis glanced at Wally. "You don't know which one?"

The queen shook her head. "The counsel deemed that I didn't need to know."

"Wait a minute, what counsel?" It flew out of Wally's mouth.

The little girl seemed taken aback. "My counsel of course. Because I was crowned at such a young age a counsel was put down to help and guide me until I am of age."

Wally nodded. "And was the former count on this counsel?"

The queen nodded. "Well, yes. He was my only adult living relative."

Wally nodded again. "And this counsel takes care of invitations for parties, and alike?"

"Yes, I have to approve them, but they invite people of status that would be helpful to associate with … what are you implying?"

Wally took a deep breath.

"Forgive me for scaring you, but I think maybe the former count still have influence on the counsel and uses it to further his own agenda."

The little queen looked at him confused. "Which is?"

Wally shallowed something. "I'm not sure, maybe getting his son in line for the throne."

"Maybe the little count is working together with Count Vertigo." Artemis interjected.

"I highly doubt it." Queen Perdita said, as the servant came with more tea and poured it for them. "Victor has a strong dislike for his father."

"Yes, we saw at breakfast, where he threw a letter from him without looking at it. Is there a reason for that?" Wally asked.

The little blond queen almost shrugged. "I'm not aware of a reason he really loved him at first then … when I was about six years old he just seemed to avoid him at all cost."

"Hmm…" Wally rubbed his chin and smiled to himself.

This was a very complicated, but also very interesting.

* * *

"Did you have a good trip here, Madam?" The boy asked as he pushed her down the hallway.

"Yes, quite pleasant." She smiled stiffly.

The boy stopped in front of a door.

"This will be your room, until this … situation has been cleared up." He explained.

She tried to turn her wheelchair.

But the boy tried to stop her.

"Though, it's not quite prepared yet."

"Don't worry I have no problem with a maid walking around while I wait." She said.

The boy peaked up.

"Your Russian is pretty good." He complimented.

She smiled and he opened the door and pushed her in.

"If there's anything you need, ring the bell by the bed and we'll send someone."

"Of course." She said, and he closed the door behind himself.

There was a maid in the room, standing with her back to her, fluffing a pillow.

Her wheelchair squeaked, and the maid turned around.

"Sorry, Madam I was just finishing up and…" As she spoke the maid looked down at her and stopped in realization.

"Paula…" She breathed.

"Sara," She said with a smile. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

The maid nodded. "Indeed."

* * *

 **I didn't think the conversation between Perdita and Wally would be so long, but there's also a lot of information you need to know, for the next two chapters where I will explain everything ... or at least a lot**

 **But tell me what you think**


	54. Chapter 54

**I hope you like it**

* * *

She looked Paula up and down.

"What happened to you?"

The former assassin put a hand on her own knee. "I fell … twenty stories…"

The maid leaned her head to one side, her eyes instantly changing to the yellowish catlike shape.

Paula wasn't lying.

The woman in the wheelchair let out a breath.

"What are you seeing in there?"

Her old friend's eyes turned back to normal.

"You went to prison because of that," she stated. "Why didn't you ask the master for help?"

Paula shook her head. "I'm not serving him anymore."

The other woman turned stiff for a second, then turned her back on her and made the bed.

"Then why are you here, the girl wearing your dress…"

Paula covered her mouth to silence a laugh. "You didn't get that from my mind? She's my daughter."

Sara's fingers stiffened. "So, you did have children…"

Paula's smile turned bitter at her tone. She knew what her friend was referring to.

"Yes, I got pregnant not long after you left."

"Then is she an assassin or not?" Sara asked, as she finish making the bed.

"No, she chose a different path."

"Really, but why did you give her the necklace? I remember you saying you'd keep it safe, make sure no one knew."

Anger flared in the eyes of the wheelchair bound woman. "Yes, she took it from my jewelry box."

The maid laughed. "That sounds idiotic, and then she was clumsy enough to get caught, is that why the master didn't want her."

Paula flashed her a dangerous smile. "Thankfully he never got a choice in the matter. But tell me, why did Victoria say it was stolen?"

The maid didn't even blink. "She didn't, she died five years ago."

* * *

The door to his room opened.

"I brought you some tea, My Lord."

"Yes," he said distantly, and continued to flip through the pages.

So far, he'd read the police report and the guest book from twenty ago, and he had a feeling something was going on.

The necklace had been reported stolen six months after it had been given as part of a pair to Count Varick Vertigo's twins on their eleventh birthday by a foreign dignitary, who apparently knew that the Count was a high ranking general in the army and had a say in who they gave support to.

Though it was odd how his … grandfather had written that beside the dignitary's name in the guest book.

The countess couldn't say when or where she had last seen the necklace, but no one had seen her wear it for at least two months.

Looking through the guestbook hadn't told him anything, apart from that Count Varick was very paranoid when it came to his guests.

"Victor drink some tea," Nana ordered him.

He took the cup without looking at it and put it to his lips.

And soon as it hit his tongue, he spit it out. He had been so focused on what he was reading that he hadn't prepared himself for the fowl taste.

"To think you still behave this way…"

He looked up at Nana. She returned his gaze confused.

He had almost forgot about what … the superhero had said to him.

Could he really read minds?

There was a knock on the door.

Rozalina seemed to slip in without opening the door.

"Sorry to disturb you my count, but I've brought the book to request." She whispered.

"Thank you Rozalina," He smiled sweetly, as she came closer and handed him the book.

This might have some information. He thought. It was a diary belonging to a lady-in-waiting serving Countess Victoria, who came to the estate a little before the twins' eleventh birthday, which she had been left behind when she got married at seventeen.

This girl had pretty much stuck to the Count's children like glue, she must have seen, or heard, something about this.

"My Lord," the maid said. "Is there something else you require?"

"No, you may leave, Rozalina." He said and opened the book.

"To she talks to him like that, I'll teach her a lesson…"

The young boy looked at his head maid and nanny out of the corner of his eye, in shock.

Then she turned her head towards him.

"I'll take my leave too, my dear. Get some rest." Then she again turned towards Rozalina. "This girl has clearly corrupted him, to the point that he's calling her by name."

He felt sick. There was no mistaking it, during that last sentence Nana didn't move her lips at all.

When the door shut behind the two of them, his eyes fell on the cup of tea beside his bed.

Yes, it was foul-tasting, but he felt like he was going to throw up.

He down the cup in one big gulp and looked down at the book.

Well, the mystery wasn't going to solve itself…

* * *

Artemis gritted her teeth.

"Stop that." He reprimanded.

"That little kid seriously irritates me." She said through still gritted teeth.

"Think about the situation Arts," Wally said and knitted their fingers together. "It's not an easy one, for her or us."

"The only reason she does this is because she has a thing for you."

Wally glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Are you still jealous of a 10-year-old?" He smiled.

Artemis leaned her head on his shoulder and they stopped walking for a bit.

"A little…" Her voice was nothing more than a whisper.

He just smiled and glanced at the paintings decorating the hall.

"One thing is fight Count Vertigo, it's another thing to look at all of this." He said in a low voice.

Artemis lifted her head up, irritated that Wally had ruined the moment.

"What do you mean?"

"Just that … this place, where he was born, where his family came from, so much history … and … probably a very different Count Vertigo than we know…"

He turned to Artemis who looked at him with two big, shocked and very concerned eyes.

"Too dramatic?" He smiled mischievous.

She huffed and let out a laugh. "You're so weird."

His smile turned sweet. "Why do you think I chose you?"

She shrugged and felt her cheeks grow warm.

Their little moment was broken up, when an echo rang through the hall.

"What was that?" Artemis said.

"I don't know." Wally said stunned, but we should find out.

As they walked further down the hall, they found the cause.

The elder maid, that they had seen in the dining earlier in the day was violently scolding a young blond maid, who had a big red mark on her cheek.

Artemis walked closer, but Wally stopped her. Not sure what they should do.

The conversation was in Russian so none of them knew what they were saying, but the elder woman was yelling, while the other was trying to hold back the tears and nodding to whatever the other was saying.

"That's enough!" The voice rang through the hall, as the little queen stepped closer. "I don't know how my uncle ran his household, but I can assure you that from now on it won't be run like this. Are we clear Nana?"

The older woman curtsied to the little girl.

"Of course, your majesty…"

"Good, now take the disciplinary action away from my cousin's door." The girl said, and the two maids disappeared down the hall.

The girl didn't give them a second thought. And opened the door the maids had been standing in front of.

"Victor, are you allright?"

The blond boy looked up at her from a book he was holding. "Did Nana beat her?"

Perdita shook her head. "No, it wasn't serious."

Wally and Artemis followed her into the bedroom.

The boy looked at them confused.

"What are you reading?" Wally asked awkwardly.

"An old diary … I was trying to figure out more about when the necklace was stolen…"

"And did you find anything?" Artemis asked, maybe a little to hopeful.

The blond boy made a weird face. "A little, but nowhere near enough, everything is … full of holes…"

"Then maybe I can help."

Everyone looked towards the door, where a woman with nervous expression was sitting in a wheelchair.

* * *

 **Now all the necessary piece have been gathered, and the truth will be revealed.**

 **See you next time:)**


	55. Chapter 55

**Hello**

 **Sorry that I haven't update in a while, there was no internet, but that gave me reason to really think about how to write this chapter .**

 ** **but because there was no internet I wrote a two more chapters that I'm thinking of uploading them during the next couple days.****

* * *

Artemis looked at her mother, who sat there in the door way.

After a few minutes of silence and the two children in the bedroom looking at her with confusion and fear, a Spanish looking maid pushed Artemis' mother into the room.

The maid left Paula at a small table with a lamp on it.

The silence didn't break. Both the teenagers and the children were starring at her, but she looked around the room, her eyes fell on a painting of two blond children with curious faces. That painter had done a really good job of capturing those two.

The boy in the bed cleared his throat. "Sara, would you get us some tea?"

The black haired, Spanish maid looked up at him, curtsied and went out the door.

The blond girl turned to the boy. "You know the names of your maids?" It almost sounded like a scolding.

The boy just shrugged. "Only the important ones."

Wally could feel the tension in the room grow, as the woman in the wheelchair seemed to be waiting for something and the two children glanced at her, seemingly confused, out of the corner of their eyes.

"Why don't we take a seat?" He asked, breaking the tensing.

"Yes…" Queen Perdita nodded and took a few steps towards her cousin's bed.

Artemis' mother nodded.

Wally guided Artemis to a pair of armchairs, where they sat down and had full view of the other people.

Artemis watched as her mother fidgeted.

Why did she say anything?

"Well, let's get started." Queen Perdita said, opening a drawer on the little count's nightstand and pulled out a case with the necklace inside. "You stole this necklace, yes?"

Almost like it was a natural reaction the woman in the wheelchair reached for the necklace, in what seemed like desperation.

The little girl took a step back, a little off-put.

Then, it was like the woman realized what she was doing and sat straight up in the wheelchair with her head down.

There was silent again.

The little blond queen looked down at the necklace in the case, then she gave a small sign and the necklace out of the case and walked across to the floor and handed to the woman.

Paula looked at her, a little confused at the silent exchange, but took the necklace.

She placed it in her lap and closed her fingers around the pearls, and she smiled, a sad, but happy smile. Like she was remembering something from a long time ago.

"You might want to sit down, your highness." She said in a low voice.

The girl walked back and crawled up on the bed to her cousin.

Paula kept looking down at the necklace.

"I haven't looked at this in a long time … It's true that I left this place with the necklace about twenty years ago." Paula said. "But I didn't steal it."

"Are you saying that countess Victoria gave you that?" The boy asked.

Paula looked up at him and saw his eyes change.

She raised an eyebrow.

This was … interesting…

"It was a trade," She just said.

"A trade?" Perdita asked. "What do you mean?"

Paula signed. "It's a long story, and I'm not sure where to begin…"

"Mom!" Artemis spoke up. "Just … start from the beginning and let's get this over with."

Paula nodded and signed again and looked down at the necklace.

"You see children, when I was around my daughter's age I was sent to Vlatava to infiltrate the count's family and steal this necklace."

"But you didn't?" Wally asked intrigued.

Paula shook her head. "I posed as a maid and got as close as I could to the young count and countess, but…" she smiled at the thought. "The countess somehow found me out and offered a trade.

The little girl on the bed was taken aback.

Artemis narrowed her eyes at her mom confused, while shaking her head.

"Do you earnestly want us to believe that my mother gave a necklace, a priceless birthday gift, to a thief?"

"It is the truth, your highness." It came from the door.

Everyone turned their heads to the Spanish maid standing in the doorway with a tea tray.

"Sara?" The little count asked. "How would you know?"

"Because we had the same mission."

* * *

She curled up into a ball.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but she wanted to return to her mom's place.

She had missed days of school, and Wally would have notice it.

She leaned her head to one side. She needed to clear some things with him, like was he at that ball? and … was he Kid Flash?

The door opened slowly.

He was wearing a uniform and his face was covered, but she still recognized her dad.

She looked up at him.

"Pack your bag, you are getting send home, until He needs you again."

Her eyes grew big, and a small smile graced her lips.

She was going home, she was going to see Wally.

She curled up into a ball.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but she wanted to return to her mom's place.

She had missed days of school, and Wally would have notice it.

She leaned her head to one side. She needed to clear some things with him, like was he at that ball? and … was he Kid Flash?

The door opened slowly.

He was wearing a uniform and his face was covered, but she still recognized her dad.

She looked up at him.

"Pack your bag, you are getting send home, until He needs you again."

Her eyes grew big, and a small smile graced her lips.

She was going home, she was going to see Wally.

* * *

"You helped her?" The little queen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed." The black-haired maid said while passing out the teacups. Her behavior was odd, she seemed neither the least bit scared nor concerned with what she was telling them. She could have been talking about the weather.

"But Sara, you have been a maid of this estate for two decades." The count said, as she handed him a teacup.

"The best place to hide is where you have already been." She said and put down the tray on the nightstand and walked towards the woman in the wheelchair.

"What?" The boy asked confused, while Artemis and Wally each raised an eyebrow.

The maid turned around and leaned on the wheelchair's armrest.

"Never mind that." She smiled strangely, like she was recalling a fond memory. "When me and Paula were young, we were _initiated_ into a group of … bad people…"

"Bad people?" The little girl echoed.

Paula bit her lip. "The kind of people, children like us shouldn't have been involved with…"

"More to the point, we were perfect for what those people wanted, though…"

"We were a little to bloodthirsty for them." Paula said, picking up from where her old friend left off. Her fingers tightened around pearls of the necklace. "So, the master assigned us a rather meaningless mission: to steal a priceless necklace from a child, but without getting noticed and without any harm to anyone."

"So, the theft was just random, it could have been anyone, but … _Someone_ decided that it had to be this one?" Artemis bursted out. She was dumbfounded that all of this had happened because of someone randomly chose this necklace.

"Like your mother said, we didn't steal the necklace."

"Wait, this doesn't make any sense." The blond boy in the bed exclaimed. "You have been employed here for at least fifteen years, how could you…"

"If you look through the records you'll see that I had previously worked here as a maid years before, but had been called away by my previous employer, and that I at that time was hired along side two other girls my age, with the best recommendation of course."

The boy's eyes grew wide. Wally took notice, the boy must be very attached to the maid.

"Then…" the boy stated.

The maid looked in his direction. "Aside from that." Her eyes turned to Artemis and Wally. "After we had gotten employed, we did our best to get close to the two children…"

Paula huffed and picked up the story.

"It took a while." She smiled, looking down at the necklace in her lap. "We had one idea how to act like maids, but after months and a few accidentals meeting with those … children, and the three of us became…"

"There were three of you?" The queen asked. "Who is the last one?"

The maid and the woman in the wheelchair looked at each other.

"Let's not drag her into this, she is leading a relative normal life now." The maid said.

The one in the wheelchair bit her lip. "Anyway … became the personal maids for the young countess Victoria. We tried to get the necklace, but…" her thump glided over one of pearls. "She wore it, always." She smiled down at the necklace. "Her and her brother treasured their necklaces, we were never going to get that necklace from her. But then…"

"But then what?" Artemis asked, complete caught up in the anticipation.

The maid smiled at her in an odd, scary way. Her eyes turned a yellowish, catlike color.

"Her brother got sick and she made a deal."

* * *

 **The tension is rising and I'm excited for you to read the next chapter.  
**

 **But tell me what you think of this.**


	56. Chapter 56

**Here I am again.**

 **The next chapter will end this arc with Queen Perdita (at least I think it will) so enjoy**

* * *

"A deal?" Wally echoed intrigued.

"Her brother got sick?" Artemis asked.

Her mother looked up and nodded.

"He collapsed one day in the hallway, and … couldn't walk after that…"

"Apparently that's something that runs in the family." The maid Sara said and looked over at the two blond children, while leaning on Paula's armrest. "Though it normally the boys are teenagers when it hits." She looked down to the floor and smiled. "They're just like ticking timebombs, just wait to drop."

The young people in the room looked at her with big eyes.

The maid seemed very odd but considering she had worked for _bad people_ maybe that was to be expected.

"Then ... what happened?" Artemis asked, sensing an end to the story.

"Countess Victoria stayed by her brother's side for days, and because we were her personal maids, so did we." Paula explained.

"And after that three days of him not even being able to stand." Sara said, taking over the story. "She turned to us and asked us to help him, to save him." She smiled. "We told her, we would do what we could, but that she had to know, that there was nothing we could do about his … illness."

Suddenly Paula started giggling.

The others in the room looked at her confused, apart from Sara the maid, she was smiling.

Paula managed to stop the laughter. "She told her that she knew what we were, and that we definitely weren't trained maids. When we insisted that we were, she started listing things like how our smiled weren't polite, our eyes were cold, we didn't button her dresses correctly, and how her bedsheets sometimes were winkled." She smiled fondly at the memory. "She had known all along, what we were there for."

"And she told us, that she would give anything, if we could do anything about her brother's condition." Sara said.

"And what did you do?" The blond boy asked. He had read in the diary from the lady-in-waiting, that his … father had suddenly become strong after being very sick for some time.

"We did what she asked." Sara said. "It took some time, and we ended up owing quite a few favors, we spent years days of, but after a few months, we had a solution in our hands."

"And what solution was that?" Artemis asked.

Wally leaned forward, he had already figured it out, at least he thought so.

"I'm sure you all have seen him with that weird headgear." The maid said.

"That's the reason he was wearing that?" The young boy exclaimed.

Paula nodded. "After that we asked for the countess' necklace, and she gave it to us."

There was quite for a few seconds.

"There is a hole in your story." The queen said in a slow, low, quivering voice. "If you were asked to steal the necklace for this master of yours, why do you still have it?"

Paula bit her lip and tightened her grip on the necklace. "Because for whatever reason, we decided not to tell that we had gotten the necklace."

"Since Paula here was the oldest, we decided that she should take it and keep it safe. While we reported to our master that we had failed … Because of that we spent months in cells, waiting, thinking that we were going to die." The maid asked.

Both blond children looked at them with big eyes.

"Well…" Artemis said and got up and walked to her mother. "Whatever the case, this necklace was giving to her mother, the former queen…" She held out her hands. Her mother looked up at her, smiled, and handed her the necklace. "Then … it's only fair…" She walked to the queen and held out the necklace. "That it's returned to her family."

The little girl took the necklace and held it between her small fingers.

Artemis signed silently. She hoped this would end everything.

Then the girl was quivering, tears dripping down on the pearls of the necklace.

Artemis froze, not sure whether to step towards her, or away.

"My mother … died when I was five…" Her voice quivered, as the little girl tried to hold back the tears. "As such … I do not … remember much about her … and that I was hoping that…"

She couldn't say anymore.

Artemis eyes grew big. The girl had wanted to get the necklace, so she could feel closer to her mother.

She unknowingly stepped forward.

Suddenly the little girl launched at her.

Her small wrapped around Artemis' neck, as she started sobbing uncontrollably.

After a second of confusion she put her arms around her.

Paula smiled.

Her daughter really had changed.

* * *

"It really was the last place I thought I'd see you." Paula said.

They were sitting on a bench in the garden waiting for the time for Paula and the two teenagers to drive to the airport.

"It was a place, where I thought no one would know me, but I still had an identity." Her old friend said.

"Well, at least now it's all cleared up … I'm sorry you had to expose yourself." Paula smiled.

She shrugged. "If they're going to fire me, they would have done it years ago."

They sat in silence for a while.

"By the way how is Silver?" the Spanish woman asked with a knowing smile.

Paula looked down.

"I haven't spoken to her in nine years, but I think she is fine."

"You said she lived a _relative_ normal life."

"She does."

The maid's eyes changed.

"She put her sword to her own eyes?!" She asked appalled.

Paula bit her lip. "She did for a good reason?"

"For a child? She left the league for a child? Wasn't the master the reason we were going to have kids?" Sara seemed both agitated and confused about it.

"Is that the reason you had a child?" Paula shot back.

The maid froze.

"I don't know what you mean…" she said fast.

Paula gave her look.

She signed. "well, at least you won't tell the master … how did you find out?"

"Well, he seemed very attached to you, and his eyes changes just like yours do." Paula smiled.

Sara broke out in a laughter.

"Yes, my penalty. You know, I didn't realize he had the power until a few days ago."

"Does he have your love of dancing too?"

Sara shrugged. "I have no idea."

Paula made a face and noticed Artemis walking on a pathway with Queen Perdita. Wonder what they were discussing.

"Though I am a bit surprised…" Paula said knowingly to the woman on the bench beside her. "Having an affair with the Lord of the house does seem like something you would do, inconspicuous as you are."

Her friend slowly turned to her.

"I didn't."

* * *

 **The last few mysteries will be revealed in the next chapter, which will be posted sunday.**

 **I far to tired to reveal them now.**


	57. Chapter 57

**This chapter is a little longer than usual, but I hope you still like it.**

* * *

"You know I feel kind of like a jerk." Artemis said, while she looked at the glass case displaying the two necklaces.

"Really?" Wally asked with a raised eyebrow.

She turned to him. "She's not that bad, she just wanted to be closer to her mother."

Wally smiled at her.

"What?" She asked, as he stepped closer.

He caressed her cheek. "My little Arts is growing up."

Her fist went towards his face.

He caught it, still smiling. "Or maybe not."

There was a cough at the door.

Both saw the little queen in the doorway, who had apparently witnessed their little moment.

They broke apart.

"I was wondering if you would have a walk with me in the garden, before you take your leave?" The queen asked, complete unfaced.

Artemis and Wally looked at each other. Artemis shrugged. She could let them have one last moment. "Sure, go ahead." She said and made a gesture towards the queen.

"Not him, you." The little blond girl said to Artemis.

"Me?" Artemis looked at Wally confused.

He just shrugged and mimicked her gesture from before.

The little girl leaned her head to the side ever so slightly. "Shall we go then?"

* * *

The sand crunched beneath their feet, as they walked on the garden path.

The girl was walking beside her, looking straight ahead.

"I wanted to apologies." The girl said.

Artemis smiled. "Don't worry about it, we all make mistakes."

The blond girl glanced at her from the corner of her eye. "I was, of course, referring to my emotional outburst when you gave me the necklace."

Artemis stopped, confused, while the girl took a few more steps.

"Are you trying to be funny?"

She looked at her over her shoulder with a little smile on her lips. "Did I fail in my attempt?"

Artemis huffed. "Yeah, I didn't expect that."

The queen nodded. "But I am sorry, I behaved like a child and threw accusations around without any proof."

Artemis glanced at her. The queen spoke so formal, that it was hard to keep up. And why wouldn't she behave like a child? Wasn't she 10?

"You know." Artemis smiled. "I thought for a moment that it was because you liked my boyfriend."

The girl looked up at her, then turned her head and looked straight ahead.

"I would be lying, if I told you that it wasn't a factor in my decisions."

"So, you like him?" Artemis said.

It suddenly occurred to her that she had called Wally her boyfriend not Kid Flash, but … the little queen didn't seem to pick up on it.

A little smile appeared on the girl's face.

"Think of it as a compliment that I, a queen, find him suitable as a partner."

Artemis couldn't help but giggle. She had a point.

The noise from another conversation caught her attention.

It was her mother and that maid … Sara? … who was sitting at a bench along the wall, amongst flowers.

They were smiling and talking. The queen watched them too.

Suddenly the maid busted out laughing.

"What's going to happen to her?" Artemis asked as they walked past them.

The queen looked down as she continued to walk. "That it Victor's decision, it is after all his house."

"But aren't you cousins?" Artemis asked confused.

"Indeed. But we are also each the head of each of our houses. He is the count and I am the queen, and we are responsible for what happens to our houses and the people within them, or the counsel does..."

"The counsel?"

"They make decisions for us, in turn we act like perfect children, or rather not like children." The queen explained.

Suddenly it made sense to Artemis, why she seemed more like a miniature adult, than a 10-year-old.

The queen stopped walking, her head towards the ground. "Victor once put it, that we are actors playing a part both day and night, and … if we play the part good enough, we get a say in the script."

Artemis was stunned at what she heard.

"I'm sorry…"

"For what?" the girl asked still not turning around.

"I thought you were a … pampered princess, that didn't do anything for herself."

The girl turned around with a smile. "Then like our mothers before us, shall we make a deal?"

"A deal?"

"That I will not make assumptions about you, and in turn you shall not make assumptions about me…"

"I can agree with that." Artemis said and stuck her hand out for the girl to shake.

* * *

Wally knocked on the open door.

"Yes?" The boy asked from the bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

The boy looked up from whatever he was reading.

"Fine … you haven't left yet?" He wasn't rude, just puzzled.

"Not yet, what are you reading?" He asked and stepped closer.

The young count showed him some records.

"These three are the maids that helped my … the former count. I wanted to find out who they were."

Wally leaned in. There were pictures of younger versions of Artemis' mother and the maid, and the third was a strange looking young woman with long white hair. But the names under the picture of Artemis' mom was fake, though the name under the maid's was Sara, that would mean all the names were fake, and there would be no way to find them.

"Why do you want to know?" Wally asked putting a hand on the nightstand, knocking down some letters.

He picked them up, they were all from Count Vertigo.

"These people fixed the former count's … problem with balance, perhaps they could do the same for me…"

"Did he send all of these to you?" Wally asked referring to the letters.

The blond boy looked down at him.

"Oh, yeah. Nana puts them at the nightstand sometime in an attempt to make me read them." He explained and looked back at the records.

"And you've never read one, even once?"

"No." The boy said through gritted teeth.

"Why not?"

"Because he's a bad person." He just said, still not looking up.

"Isn't he still your father?"

The boy slowly lifted his head, his eyes had changed into their yellow cat-like shape.

"I'd rather you not call him that in my presence … and don't think I had anything to do with his attempt on Perdita's life while she was in America for the heart transplant."

"But you knew about it?" Wally asked putting the letters back on the dresser.

He curled into a ball and nodded. "I guess, I read his mind that one time he was home."

Wally lifted an eyebrow at him.

So, he had excepted that he could read minds?

"Why didn't you tell Perdita?"

The boy smiled. "Despite how she seems, my cousin is quite naïve, and … he was the only adult left in our lives, and of course she knew how much I hated him. She wouldn't have believed me."

"Why do you hate him anyway?" Wally asked looking at the stack of letters. There had to be at least sixteen.

The boy bit into his lower lip. "Because he's a murder…"

Wally looked at him with big eyes. "What did you see?"

"You mean in his mind, or with my own eyes?" The boy snapped at him.

Wally took hold of the letters again. He got an idea.

"Let's make a deal, shall we?" He asked.

"What?" The young count asked confused.

"You'll one day tell me what you saw your dad do, in turn I'll make you a headgear like the one the … former count had."

The boy looked at him with those odd eyes.

"Deal," he then said and stuck out his hand.

They shook on it.

"By the way, can I take these with me?" Wally asked gesturing to the letters in his hand.

The boy shrugged. "Please do, then Nana will maybe stop bothering me about them."

* * *

Paula made big eyes at her. "What do you mean?"

"He raped me?" She just said.

"Raped you? How could he rape _you_?" Paula said in disbelief.

"Fairly simple, he forced himself on me," she said completely void of emotion. She looked up at her friend. "It's almost 13 years ago. It was on Victoria's weeding night, that guy always had a weird relationship with her, I don't know if he remembered that I was one of the maids that helped him back then, or maybe it was because he did, that he did that to me." She looked up. "I was making the bed in a guest room when he suddenly stood behind me, he turned me around and pushed me down on the bed … I had to make a decision, either fight back and expose myself as more than a maid or take it and continue to live that quiet life I had."

"So, you decided to take it." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"I put on the best performance of my life," she almost smiled. "Kicking and screaming, begging him to stop … and when he was finish and left, I went back to my work. The problem came later."

"The boy?" Paula asked.  
"The boy," She confirmed. "When he was born it was easy to see who fathered him, and each time I looked at him … I was reminded of the humiliation I suffered from that man."

"Then what did you do?"

"I did what I had to, and no more than that. I gave him the name Carlos and sent him work when he was three. I was escorting, I had to move him around the estate to make sure the count would see him."

"To protect him?" Paula asked confused.

The old friend looked at her. "Of course not! I didn't want him to find out I bore him a child and decide to marry me, or something, because of it."

Paula gave her a look.

The maid signed. "But in the end, it happened. He bumped into him in the hallway about six years ago and it wasn't long before he was the count's official son."

"But you weren't made his wife?" Paula asked.

She shook her head. "I thought that this way I could go back to the way things were before, but that little boy!" She gritted her teeth agitated. "He wanted me as his chamber maid, he wanted _me_ to be the one to wake him up in the morning!"

"So … what now?" Paula asked in an effort to change the topic.

"Well…" she leaned back against wall. "At least now I think he'll remove me as his chamber maid."

"You're not going to help him? He has your powers." Paula said.

"Why should I?"

"He's your child!"

"And now I've done my part for the League, this should enough."

Paula shook her head. She shouldn't be surprised; her friend had always been like that.

"Speaking of the League … have you had any odd late-night phone calls?" Paula asked.

"Late-night phone calls?" Sara repeated.

"Yes … like you get a phone call late at night and suddenly you wake up later the next morning." Paula leaned in, waiting for an answer.

Sara rubbed her chin. "Yes, I think I got one, just a little while ago … why?"

Paula fidgeted. "Me and Silver got one too. And I think it might be the League that are behind it."

Sara signed. "We'll never really get out of the League, will we?"

Paula shook her head. "Guess not."

"By the way Paula," Sara said changing the subject. "If your daughter ever comes back here, tell her to be wary of the head maid."

"The one that was the Head maid, while we were young?" Paula asked, remembering the strict head maid yelling at them, many times, in Russian.

Sara nodded. "She's a little too attached to the former count, and the thought of getting him, or his son, on the throne."

Paula raised an eyebrow but smiled as a breeze blew past them ruffling their hair.

"I'll pass that on … Mila…"

The maid smiled at. the sound.

"It's really been a while since I have heard my own name."

* * *

He stood in his luxurious bathroom.

His eyes were different in the mirror.

He'd never paid attention to it before. Were they always like this? What had caused this change?

His eyes were supposed to be green, but they were yellow and looked like a cat's.

He put his head under water, when he looked in the mirror again he saw Sara standing behind him, she had the same kind of eyes.

"Carlos," She said, making him turn around to face her. He couldn't remember the last time she called him that.

"Mom…?" He said carefully, she'd hardly ever let him call her that.

She just smiled sweetly at him.

"I'm hear to train you in the use of our gift."

* * *

"Your highness? You're taking your leave now?"

Perdita smiled at the nanny. "Yes Nana, it al over now, and I'll return to my own affairs. Call for me if Victor gets worse okay."

The older woman curtsied as she walked passed.

"Oh, our highness." She said as the girl had walked passed her.

The queen stopped. "What?"

"The top buttons in your dress is undone."

The little girl turned stiff. "Ohh…" she had no idea what to do.

"Here let me…" the old maid said. And before the queen could say a word she was buttoning up the dress.

"Your majesty, your car is waiting for you." A servant, who was walking fast towards, called to her.

"Coming," She said and walked away from Nana without a second thought.  
The maid stood still for a movement, then quickly hit the small knife when she saw some mids coming down the hall with laundry.

* * *

"It was really nice of the queen to let us fly in her private jet." Her mom said.

She just nodded.

"Is there something wrong?" Her mom asked, while looking towards Wally who was looking at some letters."

"Not really…" Artemis said. "It's just that third maid … who is she. Is she someone I know?"

Her mother smiled slyly. "If I say long, white hair … what do you say?"

* * *

 **I'm thinking about writing a story about Countess Victoria and Count Vertigo about everything from the episode with the necklace, their relationship, the rape of Victor's mother, Victoria's death and Perdita's crowning and everything inbetween.  
**

 **But tell me what you think about this chapter.**

 **Next chapter is going to be with Lia and Wally.**


	58. Chapter 58

**Hey guys.**

 **I just found out I dumped one of my exams (Sob) so I won't be able to update the last week of August.**

 **Anyway here your chapter.**

* * *

"Wally?"

"Huh…" he turned Lia confused.

"Is there something wrong?"

He blinked everything into focus. "No, why do you ask?"

She pointed to the food on his tray with an unimpressed look. "You haven't eaten."

He looked down it was true.

He tried to smile. "Oh." Then he put a french-fry in his mouth.

"So, what's going on with you?" Lia asked, leaned towards him.

"Nothing really," he said with a mouthful of french-fries. "We get our midterm results back."

"Oh, yeah. Had completely forget about that." She said then took a sip of her drink and glancing at him, while he continued to stuff his face.

They had made it to lunch and he still hadn't asked where she had been. Could he have be the superhero Kid Flash?

If he really was, then that would mean that they'd kissed…!

She nearly choked on the straw in her drink at the thought.

Wally eyed her.

"It there something wrong with you?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm just … I … my dad is home and I just consider what he would think of my midterms."

Wally smiled. "Well, he probably won't be half as obsessed with it, as my dad is."

Lia giggled. "That's true."

"So," Wally said putting two french-fries in his mouth. "Science is next, and it's about…"

Both of them looked at the other, each expecting the other to explain today's homework.

After a minute Lia looked down. "I had some _bonding_ time with Dad."

Wally huffed. "I had a bit of field trip with my extracurricular activity."

Lia looked at him suspiciously.

She had a feeling she knew what those extracurricular activities was.

She looked at the clock.

"Did you go to England?"

Now it was Wally who was choking on a straw, in surprise.

"No," he coughed. "Why?"

She shrugged. "You're speaking with your British accent."

"I Am?" He said and felt his throat, like that was going to help.

Lia looked up at the clock. "Anyway, Science starts in ten minutes, so you better eat up."

"I'm already done." Wally said, still with a straw in his mouth.

* * *

She unlocked the front door and stepped in.

She signed, relieved to be home.

She had to do laundry and start on dinner before her husband and Wally came home.

She pulled of her jacket and hung it up, when there was a knock on the door.

She turned around confused and opened it.

"Mary," The postman smiled politely.

She smiled back. "Hello," she couldn't remember his name. "Is there something wrong with the mailbox?"

"Oh no, it just that I think you got a letter from the queen or something." He said.

She raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

He smiled and handed her a rather old-looking letter with a wax seal and her name on it.

She looked at the letter with confused, completely lost on what or why the letter had been sent to her.

She looked up at mailman. "Thank you."

He touched the brim of his cap in a sort of greeting and left.

She closed the door behind her and looked at the letter.

What could it be?

An invitation to a wedding? Or perhaps an anniversary?

* * *

"Wally?"

He turned around and saw Lia almost standing directly behind her.

"Were you going to leave without me?" She asked strangely stern.

"No, of course not. But I'm meeting with Artemis, so I'm not walking all the way home. We want to share our midterm results." He said.

He didn't know why, but Lia seemed different.

"Oh," She said, and they started walking.

"Do you still not like Artemis?" He asked, as she quietly walked alongside him.

She signed. "I guess I have to except her." Then she smiled at her. "After all you chose her, so she can't be half bad of a person."

Wally raised an eyebrow at her. "What was your problem with her in the first place?"

Artemis had said Lia liked him, but Lia just wasn't the type to get spiteful, because she liked someone.

"Oh, Wally." Lia smiled. "How would you feel if I started dating a good-looking guy?"

"Probably beat him up…" He said, then made a face and shrugged. "Okay, I see you point."

Lia huffed and slipped her fingers into his again. "I knew you would."

Wally smiled at her.

Now it seemed everything was back to normal.

They walked like that for a while, talking about science…

But when they came to the café, they usually did homework, Artemis was waiting for them.

The instant Wally saw her, he let go of Lia's hand and went over to her.

Lia felt … hurt.

She bit her lip while smiling.

But then again, she could always hurt her a little.

As soon as Artemis saw her over Wally's shoulder, she froze.

"Lia?" Her voice almost quivered.

"Oh, yeah." Wally smiled, oblivious to what was going on. "We always walk home together, and this is the same route as to home, so…"

"It's very nice to see you again Artemis." Lia said with a big smile.

Artemis nearly took a step back, but instead eyed her suspiciously.

"Well, goodbye, lovebird…" Lia continued to smile as she was about to walk past them.

Suddenly Wally phone rang.

He looked at the display.

He smiled at the two of them. "Sorry, got to take this, it's my mom."

Then he walked towards the cafe and leaned up against the wall.

Lia took a step towards Artemis.

Artemis looked her straight in the eye.

"Stay away from Wally!" She said in a low voice, as not to let Wally hear.

Lia just kept smiled. "Or what?"

"Or I'm going to him you're a shadow…"

Lia just leaned her head to one side. "And who do you think he'll believe? His over jealous girlfriend or his friend since forever?"

Artemis bit her lip irritated instead of responding.

Lia, still smiling, raised an eyebrow. "You don't like that do you, that I know more about Wally, than you do."

Artemis looked at Lia disturbed, she was enjoying this.

She looked her right in the eye. "I know all I need to know about Wally."

Lia smile changed, became less stiff.

"Like how we kissed?"

* * *

 **so ... what'd you think?**

 **I no it's a bit short, but I'm a bit despressed today**

 **See you guys in a week :)**


	59. Chapter 59

**I'm back again and you get a chapter**

* * *

"Sorry, Arts…" he said. "Is there something wrong?"

Artemis stood like she was frozen, with eyes that were either shocked or hollow.

She snapped out of it.

"No, sorry, just … spaced out for a bit…" She tried to smile but it didn't convince him.

Wally looked over her shoulder.

Lia's silhouette became smaller and smaller in the distance.

Did she say something to Artemis again?

"Okay then," he smiled. "Let's get inside and take a look at our grades."

* * *

Artemis sip on the cup of tea.

Not only had she been nervous about her midterm grades. Her mom had said that she at least had to get one A…

And now Lia just comes out and says that her and Wally had kissed?

She glanced at him. He didn't kiss her, did he?

Wally ripped open his envelope.

He smiled and showed her a report card with one or two B's, but mostly A's

She just shook her head.

"I am a genius, after all." He said with a sly smile.

She opened hers and instantly closed her eyes without looking at them.

Wally leaned over and looked.

"Arts … you did good." He said in a gentle tone.

She slowly opened her eyes again.

A lot of B's and C's and two A's.

She signed in relief.

"What happened to not worrying about your mom?" Wally smiled over the edge of his cup.

Artemis shrugged. "I don't, but at least I won't hear about getting A's anymore."

"Speaking of moms." Wally said and reached for hand. "My mom invited you to dinner tomorrow."

"Me?" Artemis said.

He shrugged and continued to interwind their fingers. "You and your mom."

"Why?" She said, trying to figure out whether she should pull away or not.

"To get to know you and her a bit better, that's all. And think about it, it might be your one and only chance to see my room."

"What?" She asked and pulled her hand away. "Why?"

Wally either didn't know what he had just implied, or he just wanted to see her reaction.

"Well because to my dad I'm public enemy number one when it comes to girls, and I'm never to have a girl in my room." He just smiled.

Artemis actually laughed. "So, tomorrow night, dinner?"

He nodded. "Yeah, if you want to."

"Sure, I'll check with my mom, but yes." She said, then something struck her. "How do your dad feel about Lia?"

"Lia?" Wally said confused. "He thinks she's smart, I think…"

"So, you've never … kissed her, or anything?" She said in a clumsy attempt to ask him the question without being too direct.

Wally gave her a funny look. "No… what's this about, Arts?"

She turned stiff, as she realized she had gotten into a bit of a problem.

She shook her head and tried to smile. "Oh, nothing … Lia just teased me a little, you know before when you took the phone call."

* * *

"Is this it?" He asked.

As soon he said it, Wally came out of the house, they were parked in front of.

"Yes," Artemis said and got out of the car and hugged Wally.

The guy got out too and got the wheelchair from the trunk.

Him and Wally helped her mom get out of the car and into the wheelchair.

"Call when you need a ride home." The guy said and got back into the car.

"Thanks, David." Her mom said over her shoulder as Artemis pushed her up the driveway and up the makeshift ramps the West's had put on their doorstep.

"My pleasure Miss Wen." He said out the car window and drove away.

Wally parents stood in the doorway now.

His mother smiled. "Welcome Artemis, Paula."

Artemis' mother seemed a bit uncomfortable but smiled. "Thanks for having us."

"Let's get in and get something to eat, before Wally gets too hungry." His mom said and stepped away from the doorway, letting the other into the house.

"Mom…!" Wally whispered through gritted teeth as they went in.

As they sat down at the table and poured drinks and served their food. Artemis saw that Wally was moving very slow, or rather slow for him.

When she glanced at his mom, she saw her looking at him with a little smile and glittering eyes, like she knew what he was doing.

* * *

"It was quite a lovely dinner," Paula said as she was wheeled into the living room with a glass of red wine in her hand.

"Thank you." Wally mother said and sat down in the sofa, his dad sat down next to her.

"Mom is it okay, I show Artemis around?" Wally asked from the opening into the dining room.

Wally's dad seemed to want to protest, but his mom put a hand over his and stopped him.

"Of course, go ahead."

Wally smiled and disappeared with Artemis.

"Mary!" Mr. West scolded his wife.

"Oh, Rudy, he was so well behaved during dinner, just let him have some fun for now." She smiled lovingly at her husband.

Paula leaned her head to one side.

"So, he doesn't always act like this?" She said and sipped her wine.

His dad smiled. "No, I think he was trying to impress you."

Paula laughed. "I must admit it worked."

"Well," Mrs. West said. "I did try to make a gentleman out of him."

Paula smiled. "Really?"

Mary shrugged. "My parents held that in high regard." She made a slight frown.

"Parents can be hard to deal with," Miss Wen said, referring to her old Master, Ras al Ghul.

"I actually ran away from mine, when I was Wally's age."

Paula didn't know how to react to that.

"By the way," Mr. West asked to change the subject. "How did you end up in a wheelchair?"

She looked down herself, like she hadn't noticed the chair before.

Then she looked up and smiled as best she could. "A working accident."

* * *

"Wow it's cleaner that I thought it would be." She said and sat down on the made bed.

"Well I did make an effort…" Then it seemed something caught his eye and he went to his desk and put something in a drawer.

"What's that?" She asked.

"College acceptance letters." He shrugged.

"But you still have two years in high school left, don't you?"

He nodded and sat down next to her with a sly smile. "That's the problem with being as smart as I am."

She huffed. "Yeah right."

Wally fidgeted for a second.

He felt like she had to know, but could he tell her without her killing him.

Beside he didn't understand it himself.

"Remember how you asked if I'd kiss Lia?"

Artemis turned stiff beside him. "Yes?"

"Well … I didn't kiss Lia, but I got kissed by that Shadow girl when I was protecting Queen Perdita in Vlativa." He said fast.

"What?" She sounded ready to murder someone.

"She had kind of … trapped me against a wall and just kiss me…"

"Why?" She just asked.

Wally shrugged. "To distract me, stun me or slow me down, so she could kill the queen."

Artemis looked angry, but also … very stunned and sad.

"Wally?" He heard his mom call. "It's time for Artemis and her mom to go home."

He signed in relief.

He stood up and pulled her up.

"Please, just don't hold this against me."

She just nodded, but still seemed angry.

As they waked past his desk, she pulled the drawer out, just a bit and saw a big pile of letters.

But apart from that, Lia _had_ kissed Wally in Vlatava, and she knew that Wally was Kid Flash!

* * *

"Thanks for a lovely dinner," Artemis' mother said, as she put her jacket on.

"Well, it was quite nice to meet you both." Wally's dad said smiling at them.

Wally mother was in the kitchen cleaning up.

Artemis returned the smile.

At least it seemed like she had made a good impression.

Wally saw something on the dresser by the door.

"Can you see them out dad?" He asked, and when his dad nodded, he headed for the kitchen. "Mom?"

His dad helped her mom down the ramp and down the driveway.

"I was a bit conflicted about you," his dad admitted to Artemis. "But I see I have nothing to worry about. But you must understand that I put Wally's education first."

"Yes, I understand." Artemis smiled back. "And from on those College acceptance letters I'll say that he does too."

His dad looked confused for a moment, then quickly regained his smile. "Oh, those? Yes, they do don't they."

* * *

She was typing the last few words on an English paper, when her window suddenly popped opened.

"Hello," said the shadowy figure.

Lia turned around. "I had a feeling you would come."

Artemis glided down the windowsill and stepped into the light.

"How did you know Wally was Kid Flash?" Artemis said boiling with anger.

Lia just smiled. "I didn't. But you just told me."

* * *

 **So tell me what you think the next chapter is going to feature Lia and Wally again.  
**


	60. Chapter 60

**I'm back again and you get a chapter.**

* * *

Artemis froze. "What do you mean?

"Well…" Lia stood up. "I didn't know Kid Flash was Wally, when I more or less nailed him to that bookshelf." She took a step towards her. "But now that you've told me that it was him, I know." She took another step forward.

Artemis was confused. "But you said…"

Lia crossed her arms and smiled victoriously. "I lied."

Artemis' eyes grew big.

Lia shrugged. "I mean I kind of suspected it was him, when I saw him dancing with that little queen, but I didn't know for sure until you confirmed it."

Artemis took a confused step backwards. "But…

"Now…" Lia took out a knife and seemed to file her nails on it. "My dad is in the other room, so if there's nothing else…" she gestured to the window behind Artemis.

Artemis followed her line of sight.

"We are not done … I'm telling Wally about you." She said as she turned towards the window.

Lia just shook her head smiling. "Go ahead, but I know he won't believe her."

Artemis bit her lip as she crawled out. Debating why she didn't start a fight, that would stop this for sure.

* * *

"So, you broke into her house?" Zatanna looked puzzled.

Artemis fidgeted. "I wanted to be sure…"

"Well, are you going to tell him?" Raquel asked.

"You think I shouldn't?" Artemis said. She was getting really tired of keeping this from him.

"No, you should, this girl is clearly bad news we have known that for a while…" Raquel said.

"But she might be right," Zatanna said.

"About what?" Artemis nearly snared.

"He has known her for a very long time, so he probably won't believe you when you say it." She explained.

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe you shouldn't start out with telling … start by taking about something else and just … kind of mention it." Raquel said.

"Oh, yes. Because I'm good at small talk." Artemis signed.

The other two girls giggled.

Then the computer voice announced Kid Flash was coming.

"Well, here's your chance." Raquel said and stood up.

"Hey, guys." Wally said as he speeded into the cave.

"Hey, Wally," The other two girl said as they walked out of the room.

Wally looked at them, then at Artemis.

"Well, you clearly want to talk about something." She said and sat down next to him.

Artemis started fidgeting again.

"Not really…" she whispered.

He put an arm around her. "Well, I can't stay long my dad wants to talk to me as soon as he gets home today."

"Really? Did I do something?"

He shook his head and smiled. "No, they actually really liked you, and your mom."

"Well, I did tell her to behave." Artemis said.

Wally let out a laugh. "Really?"

"Though your dad said that he was scared about me making you lose focus." She smiled.

He smiled at the thought. "Yeah, I think he would want me to go to college now, if he knew I could."

"Do you mean he doesn't?" Artemis asked confused.

Wally removed his arm from around her. "No," then he gave her a curious look. "Why?"

"Well, I said to him, that I could see that you were putting your education first because you had all those college acceptance letters, when he said that he was putting your education first."

Wally froze for a moment. Then anger flared in his eyes.

"You did what?!"

* * *

He swallowed a lump and opened the front door slowly. Scared about what he would find.

The hallway seemed darker. Or was it just him?

"Wallace?"

He froze. He'd hoped he could sneak up to his bedroom and hide out.

"Yes dad?" He asked.

"Come in here, me and your mom want to talk to you about something."

Wally signed. The anger was clear in his dad's voice.

He slowly stepped into the living room.

His dad was standing in the middle of the room with the stack of acceptance letters in his hand.

His mom was sitting in the chair.

Wally bit his lip. Years of waking up and getting the mail everyday to make sure they didn't find out about them, all ruined because of a simple comment.

"What are these?" His dad asked in a stern voice as he flipped.

Wally didn't say anything. Smart mouthing his dad wouldn't be the best thing now.

His dad signed. "Some of these go back to when you were in middle school…!"

Wally just nodded. "Yeah,"

"Why did you hide them?" He dad asked angrily.

"Because if you saw them you would send me to college." He answered honestly.

"Of course, think of all the things you could accomplice, if you went to college..."

"I don't want to go to college now!" Wally bursted out in anger and irritation. "I just want to go to high school and be a teenager for the time being!"

"And waste all the potential you have?" His dad didn't seem impressed.

"This is my life, shouldn't get to decide what my _potential_ is used for?" Wally didn't want to start an argument, but this was quickly spinning out of control.

"And know what's best for you, and you should have told me, so I could make a decision on this." His dad said sternly.

Wally signed. "Fine!" He said and made an aggressive sweeping gesture with his arms. "So, can you just ground me, and we can get this over with?"

"It's a little more serious than that," his mom said. "You hid this from us, and you know how much we want you to get a good education…" She was holding a strange envelope in her hands.

"And since we can't trust you with things like these, we've going to send you to boarding school." His dad said with folded arms.

"Boarding school?" Wally echoed in shock. "When?"

"We're making the arrangements, tomorrow you can say goodbye to friends, but then you've grounded until you leave." His dad said.

"Mom?" Wally said desperate for help, or support, at the moment.

"I'm sorry Wally but this is for your …"

Wally didn't hear her finish the sentence. He was already up the stairs and had closed the door to his room.

He was fuming.

He grabbed his phone. He needed to talk to somebody, and he knew just who.

* * *

Lia held a drink out in front of him as he sat down on the bench.

"So, what happened?" She asked and opened her can of soda.

"My dad," he just said and opened his can.

"What about him?" She asked. Somehow relieved that it wasn't about her being a shadow.

Did this mean that blondie hadn't told him?

"Their sending me to boarding school."

Lia spit out her drink. "What? Why?"

"He found all the college acceptance letters." He explained.

"Oh, that bad…" She commented.

"You better believe it," he said completely humorless. "And since mom just got a letter from my grandparents, they decided that I should stay there until they find the perfect school..."

"Your grandparents, but they…" Lia felt like everything was spinning.

"I know…" Wally said hopelessly. "And my dad doesn't come around, I could end up going away for a long time, not seeing my friends, Artemis, or you." He turned to her. "Can you even ima…"

Suddenly Lia's lips were pressed against his.

Oddly enough he thought back to the shadow, who had kissed him in Vlatava.

Lia's hand rested on his cheek, as he was too stunned to do anything, even break of the kiss.

Lia pulled away from him and looked as stunned as he did.

"I'm sorry…" she said and looked down, unsure of what to do with her hands.

"It fine…" Wally said, unsure if he should put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her or not.

Lia signed. "I just thought about how it would be to never see you again and…"

"I know…" Wally said awkwardly.

Suddenly Lia leaned her head back and laughed.

"What now?" Wally asked confused, as he pulled a little away from her.

"It's just … it's so awkward…" She said in between laughs.

Wally smiled. "Yeah, it is…"

* * *

 **So tell me what you think.**

 **I won't be updating next week because I have to retake my exam, and after that I starting a new semester, so I don't know when I'll update again.**

 **And I know that I'm dragging some stuff out, but please bare with me for a little bit longer.**


	61. Chapter 61

**Sorry, I haven't uploaded until now, I've been a bit sick and depressed.**

 **But this is a bit of a filler, but I'll upload on Wednesday like I usually do.**

* * *

"So, you didn't tell him?" Zatanna asked.

Artemis shook her head. "I was going to, but … he just went off…"

"Went off? … Wally?" Artemis almost jumped, when Robin was suddenly standing beside Zatanna.

"Yeah…" She nodded.

"What did you say?" Robin asked.

"Why do you think I was saying anything?" She snapped at him.

Robin held up his hands in surrender. "If the two of you were talking, wouldn't you have said something."

Realization hit Artemis' eyes. "I…"

Then Wally arrived.

"Hey, dude." Robin said. But Wally didn't so much as glance at him.

He slowly walked towards Artemis with murder painted on his face.

"So how was the talk with your dad?" She asked nervously.

"Why did you…" He was so mad he couldn't even get the words out. "How did you even think of looking in my drawer?"

Artemis felt the others look at her, as the rest of the team arrived.

"What's the big idea anyway?" She said defensively and put a hand on her hip.

Wally grimaced. "Do you have any idea how mad my dad got, because I hid that from him?!"

Artemis took a step back.

"So, you got grounded?" Robin asked.

Wally turned to him.

"Oh, I wish!" He said angrily.

Robin shrunk a little. He'd never seen Wally like this before.

"They're sending me to boarding school!"

Artemis snorted and put her hands on her hips. "So, what the big deal? You can just run here from whatever boarding they send you too."

Wally turned to her again, still fuming, but calmly walked towards her and leaned into her.

"The boarding school … is in England."

* * *

It was odd. She knew her daughter was in this room, but she couldn't hear her.

The classical music flowing through masked the soft steps of thirty little girls.

And the whispered chatter from the mothers sitting beside her, of course didn't help.

And after just a few seconds the music stopped.

The room suddenly exploded with voices and loud steps.

Somehow her daughter found her way to her again.

"Mom, was I good?" The little girl asked, as she tried to lean into the older woman.

She smiled and put one hand on the girl's cheek and smoothened her hair with the other. "You were great, Sweetie. And so beautiful."

"I have to go change, but I'll be right back…" The 10-year-old said with a smile in her voice and ran away from her, towards the locker room somewhere.

She smiled. She could hear her footsteps again.

"Excuse me…"

She almost jumped in her seat.

She could feel the man standing in front of her, but she hadn't heard him coming.

"Oh, so sorry, did I scare you?" The man asked.

She moved her head. The voice was definitely a man's, but somehow the body seemed too … small.

"A little," she nodded.

"I didn't mean to … you're Ashley's mom, correct." His voice now came from beside her, like he had sat down next to her.

She hadn't heard him do that.

"Yes," She nodded.

"I'm her dance teacher, Nicholas."

"Oh." She said. "Is she good?"

"Extremely, the girl has a gift."

She smiled. "That's good."

"It's good that you are here supporting her, even though … you can't…"

"See?" She finished his sentence with a smile.

"Yes," he seemed relieved that he didn't have to say it. "But you can be sure your girl has got some talent, she'll be the perfect ice queen one day."

She turned her head.

There was no hidden meaning. He was just saying his opinion.

"Why is that?" She asked curiously.

"Well, she's good a dancer, and her pale skin and white hair would make her perfect for the role. And she has those gorgeous blue eyes." His voice was soft, very soft.

"Does she look like me?" It was rare to hear anyone tell her how Ashley looked, and she was curious.

"Yes, yes she does."

She could hear his smile.

"So, Mrs. Markent…" He said, somewhat nervously

"Miss Markent," she corrected him with a smile. "I divorced my husband before Ashley was born."

"Oh? … then how do you get home?"

She shrugged. "We'll get a cab."

"I can … drive you guys home … if you like…"

Why was he nervous? Was it because of her?

She smiled. "That's very nice of you, I'll take you up on that."

"Mom, I'm done." Ashley called out as she came running. She stopped just before she reached them.

"Nico? You know my mom?" She asked.

The chair beside her creaked. Had he gotten up?

"Yeah, and I'm going to drive the two of you home." His voice was farther away, so he must have gotten up.

"Really?" She heard Ashley say as she got her cane, where after the 10-year-old began a detailed explanation of how they usual got home.

She smiled. Meeting Nicholas could be a very good thing.

* * *

Wally didn't look angry anymore, he looked defeated.

No one knew what to say.

"How long will you be gone?" Robin asked.

Wally shrugged. "Probably the rest of high school."

Kaldor glanced at Artemis, who fidgeted.

"Aren't you going to say something?" He asked, as Wally's mom hugged her son goodbye.

She just turned away.

"I'll talk to your dad," Wally's mom whispered to him.

He nodded. "Love you mom," he smiled bitterly. Then he waved at the others. "See you later guys…" then he just … walked away.

"Let's go," Zatanna said and guided Artemis out of the airport.

"It wasn't my fault…" Artemis mumbled behind her.

Zatanna didn't answer. She didn't really think she should.

"Oh, Lia." They heard Wally's mom say ahead.

"Sorry, I wasn't there to send him off, I just…" Lia was leaning into Wally's mom, who hugged her.

"I know sweetheart, I know…"

Artemis just signed.

This couldn't be worse.

* * *

He stepped of the plane.

He had spent the last 15 hours going over everything that happened.

Not only had he yelled at Artemis, but Lia … Lia had kissed him…

That confused the hell out of him.

He shook his head as he walked through the terminal.

He was not lucky with girls, that was for sure.

"Wally!"

He looked up. "Eric, it's been awhile."

His cousin seemed even taller than last year. His black hair was slicked back, with a few locks out of order. And he was looking at Wally over the edge of his sun glasses.

He spread out his arms. "Come here, cous."

Wally stopped in front of him but didn't approach him further.

After the they had stood like that for a few minutes, he took his arms down and put out his fist instead.

Wally smiled, and fist bumped him.

"So, what did you do?" Eric asked, as they walked through the airport.

"Hid some college letters." He said, trying to smile.

Eric grimaced. "You know, you're making life hard for the rest of us real college students."

Wally narrowed his eyes at him. "Bad joke."

His older cousin shrugged.

"By the by do you have your driver's license?"

Wally shook his head.

"Well, then you won't be driving." He smiled.

Wally laughed. "Like you'd actually let me."

He stopped for a moment, then continued to smile.

"Who knows..." Eric said smiling, as they got out into the parking lot. "If your really moving here, I could teach you how to drive and let you drive one of my cars."

Wally just shook his head.

Silently hoping he wouldn't be staying.

* * *

 **See you next time. :)**


	62. Chapter 62

**Here it is. I hope you like it.**

* * *

"Master, I'm here." Chesire said as she kneeled.

"Yes, my dear…" Ra's al Ghul said as he turned around. The screens behind just turning off. "I'd like you to come to England with me."

"England, Master?" She looked up. "Why?"

"A new ally awaits with resources, that The Light needs. And I need your special talents for a … test…" The man smiled.

"Then I'll get ready, Master." She said and stood up while smiling.

At least she would get to see England once in her life.

* * *

Wally signed as his cousin parked the car.

"Worried about grandmother and grandfather? Or is it still about those college letters?" Eric asked.

Wally just shrugged. "A bit of both…"

"Well, at least the girls are waiting to see you." Eric smiled.

Wally tried to smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.

He just had this feeling, that his mom wasn't going to change his dad's mind this time. Which meant he was probably staying here, for a long time.

"Well, do you still have that appetite of yours?" Eric said, as they went out of Eric's garage and towards the main entrance.

"I guess," Wally said, and tried to pull his suitcase up the stairs.

"The chef's going to be happy to hear that." His cousin said, as the doors were pulled open for them.

Wally was about respond, when he was interrupted by the quick steps against the marble floor.

"Wally, Wally, Wally, Wally!" The girl shouted eagerly as she ran towards him and threw herself in his arms.

Wally nearly buckled under the weight.

He sat her down on the ground again and looked at her, she had definitely grown a lot in the last year.

"Hey Sophie, haven't you become a big girl?" He said.

The little redhead smiled. "Yeah, teddy thinks so too." She then held the teddy bear up to his face.

Suddenly she stopped. "We have to hurry, Grandma told me to get you."

"We're right behind you." Eric smiled.

The 10-year-old took off, running ahead with the teddy bear hanging in arms.

Wally glanced at Eric. "She still talks to the bear."

His cousin signed and shook his head. "It's gotten better."

"Well, we should get going." He then smiled. "It's tea time."

* * *

"Oh, Wally." The old woman wrapped her hands around his neck, as soon as he entered the sitting room. "Just look at how tall and handsome you've gotten…"

Wally smiled warmly at her and put a hand on her cheek. "It's only being a year, not even that, Grandmother."

"Oh, I can't help it." She said pulling away, just to place a hand on each of his cheeks and studied him closely. "You all seem to grow up so very fast."

"Nan, the tea is getting cold." Their other cousin called from the couch.

"Oh yes, sit down. And let's talk…" his grandmother chattered on.

He sat down on the couch with Eric and their other cousin, while their grandmother and Sophie each took a chair.

Their grandmother just looked at the three of them, for a little while. "Even after five years , you still look some much alike…"

Wally looked at the others. "I don't know … I think Eric really takes after Grandfather…"

Sophie giggled. "Silly Wally, Grandmother means you and Evie."

"Oh?" Wally said playfully and turned to his other female cousin on the couch. "That would make more sense, wouldn't it? Evie?"

She tried to hide her laughter behind a cup of tea.

"Now, Wally since you've grown quite a bit, do you think you can still fit into your old clothes?" The grandmother asked.

"We're having guests tonight, really important guests." Sophie explained with a serious expression, and a less than enthusiastic voice.

"He can borrow some of my old clothes," Eric offered. "I can't fit into them anymore anyway, and I'd be happy to help you out."

At the last part of the sentence, Eric put his arm around Wally.

Wally tensed up a bit but didn't move away or say anything.

"Well, okay… what have the rest of you been up to?"

"I'm still going to school here," Sophie stated and tried to feed a cookie to her teddy bear.

"I'm thinking about going to an arts school or something, but nothings set in stone." The cousin to his right said.

"I'm living in the oxford dormitory, when I'm not here." Eric said.

The older woman stirred in tea with a spoon. "Wally, I know this probably isn't how you planned to spend … your time, but … I'm very happy that you get to spend some more time with us."

Wally signed and smiled, as his cousin pulled him even closer. "I know … but I had my life there, friends, even a girl…"

"Teddy it's very rude not to eat the treats grandmama have arranged for us!" Sophie scolded the bear, interrupting Wally in the process.

The others tried not to laugh, as their grandmother looked at the girl with green, caring eyes.

"Oh no, my dear. Teddy is clearly just saving his appetite for the evening tea, he must have heard of the dessert." She said gently.

Sophie's eyes sparkled. "And what's the dessert?"

Suddenly the doors to the sitting room opened.

The room fell silent as an older man stepped into the room.

He looked at each of them. "Wallace so glad you could join us." He strode across the floor and stopped behind his wife's chair. "It was good that that father of yours finally came around and realize who could give you a better education."

Wally didn't mention how his dad had sent him here as a punishment.

After a few more moments of silence he spoke again. "Our guest this evening is very important for the continuation of this family and it's wealth, so I want all four of you on your best behavior."

"And what about me, my love?" Their grandmother said smiling, reaching up to put a hand over his.

"You too, dear…" He said and patted her hand.

Then he left.

Wally looked intensely at his grandmother, but she didn't seem the least bit rattled.

"Well, Wally let's find you some … refined clothes, instead of your jeans and t-shirt." Eric said and tightened his grip on him then stood up.

"Good idea," the older woman said. "Evangeline, take Sophie to find a nice dress…"

"So, any idea who the guest is?" Wally asked Eric in a whisper, as they left the sitting room.

Eric just shook his head.

* * *

"Artemis? What's wrong?" Her mom asked and rolled into her room.

Her daughter turned, a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Mom … I ruined everything." She sobbed.

Her mom looked at her confused, she had never seen her daughter like this.

Artemis threw herself at her mom, wrapping her arms around her mom's waist.

"I got Wally in trouble with her parents..." she sobbed.

Her mother just patted her back. "Shh. It's going to be okay…"

* * *

"I'll get the suits…" Eric said, as Wally closed the door to his room.

He looked around the room. It was still incredible big.

He threw himself on the bed and signed for the millionth time.

He just wanted to cry. His grandparents and cousins were nice, but he wanted to go back, back to Artemis.

* * *

 **Am really tired right now The plot's going to move next week**


	63. Chapter 63

**I passed my reexamination :)**

 **So you get a new chapter.**

* * *

"So … is the guest ever coming?"

"Sophie!" Her grandmother scolded. "That's no way to talk."

The young girl just crossed her arms and looked disinterested at her potato soup.

Eric huffed. "Just let her be, but I am interested in knowing when this guest is arriving, I'd hate to think I got dressed up for nothing."

Evangeline giggled. "Yes, who is it?"

"I know as little as you do, my dears…" The older woman smiled gently. "Apparently it's someone your grandfather met at the party in Vlatava."

Wally barely remembered to swallow the soup, as his grandmother smiled knowingly at him.

Both his cousins noticed and eyed him, wanting an explanation, while Sophie still pouted over waiting.

Suddenly the door went up and they all turned their heads to the man standing beside their grandfather and husband.

Wally's eyes grew big.

What in the world was Ra's al Ghul doing at his grandparents' house?

The tall, dark-haired man smiled politely, as he strode into the room.

"Madam Branigan," He smiled and lifted their grandmother's hand to his lips. "How lovely to meet you again."

Their grandfather seemed confused. "I'm surprised. You've met before?" He asked as he sat down.

"Yes…" Their grandmother said politely. "I believe the last time we met, you were pushing your advances on an unwilling, young lady."

All four of her grandchildren laughed. And not even their grandfather's stern look could get them to stop.

"A rather … personal matter that I didn't come here to discuss." Ra's al Ghul said. "But let me introduce myself. I'm Ra's al Ghul an investor of … progress, you could say."

His eyes fell on Wally and he stopped for a minute, before continuing. "Mister Branigan here and I have discussed your involvement in … the progress."

"Our involvement?" Eric asked and leaned in, not knowing whether he should be appalled or not.

Ra's al Ghul smiled. "You would be spokesmen for our cause, it's always handy to have nobles, such as yourselves, supporting us. Of course, it helps that one of you are a smart scientist to be…"

The others looked at Wally with surprise.

"You've met Mister al Ghul before, Wallace?" His grandfather asked.

Wally didn't answer.

"Yes, in fact, our grandson helped me with a rather troublesome problem I was having back in America." Ra's al Ghul smiled evilly.

Wally thought of an excuse good enough to leave the table for.

"Then our partnership should be off to a good start..."

Wally got up from the table before his grandfather could finish his sentence.

"You can't be serious, that man's a criminal!" He said.

"Wallace!" His grandfather said sternly. "Sit down. I won't have you insult a guest like that!"

"Okay, I won't." Wally snapped back and left the dining room.

The room was silent for about a minute. Sophie looked at the door Wally went out off, longing to leave the table too, but she was too scared to ask.

"Do you want me to go after him?" Evangeline asked.

"Leave him be, child." Her grandmother said. "He's been through a lot."

"I apologize for his behavior." Mr. Branigan said. "Wallace just arrived from America, because of some behavioral problems he was having."

Ra's al Ghul just nodded. Curious about this smart young man, that seemed to pop up everywhere he went.

* * *

Zatanna took one look at her and shook her head. "You should have stayed in bed."

Artemis didn't say a word and just walked towards Batman.

"What's the mission?" Robin asked.

"Our sources say that Ra's al Ghul has traveled to England."

Artemis' head almost snapped as she looked up.

"England why?"

"That's what I want you to find out, he is visiting a noble family, but we can not figure out a reason why." He said in a monotone voice.

"So, we'll spy on a family and see if something is going on?" Rocket asked.

Batman glanced at her. "Ra's al Ghul does not just visit people, figure out why he's there."

"Okay. We're on it." Aqualad said.

"England?" Miss Martian said. "Perhaps we'll see Wally."

Artemis gritted her teeth. That was what she was thinking too.

* * *

"Grandmother? Is that man going to stay here?" Sophie asked from the carpet.

"Just for the time being. My darling." Her grandmother said from a chair and took a sip of her teacup.

"When will he leave, Teddy doesn't like him." The little girl said and crawled across the carpet towards her grandmother.

Her sister laughed from the couch. "Teddy is wise, we should listen."

"Dears, we shouldn't be rude." Their grandmother gently scolded, as the younger girl leaned up against her chair.

"Look who I found," Eric said as he came into the room, dragging Wally behind him.

"I thought Grandfather said he wasn't allowed to have dessert." Evangeline mouthed off behind a cup of tea.

"And he is busy making plans with that man," Eric said.

Wally said down beside his cousin. "Do you want an explanation?" He asked his grandmother.

"About your little outburst? Or about what you were doing at the party in Vlatava?" She asked and took a cookie from the tray.

Both his grown looked at him.

"You went to Vlatava?" Eric asked.

"And went to a party?" Evangeline asked.

"Can I have a cookie?" Sophie asked.

Her grandmother handed her one with a smile.

"And he was with a rather fetching young lady." She smiled.

Wally nearly spat out his tea, when he thought of Artemis.

He missed her, but he was also angry at her for being the cause of this as well.

He smiled. "I'm sorry, grandmother. I don't know what you are referring too."

"Ohh?" She asked. "She was wearing my engagement ring."

Evangeline leaned in so close to him, their noses touched.

"You're supposed to give that to your one true love. Who. Is She."

Wally swallowed. He was in a bind.

"I can't tell you. But I'm not engaged to her or anything, I was using it as a way that we could get in without people questioning why she was there." He explained.

His grandmother nodded.

"So," she said from behind the cup of tea. "Since all four of you are here tomorrow. Do you have any plans?"

"I was thinking of going hurting." Eric said and sipped her tea.

"I want to go to the city," Evangeline said and took hold of Wally's arm. "And you're going with me."

Wally gave her a horrified look.

"Teddy would like to go see Grandpa Innkeeper." Sophie said from the floor.

Wally signed. "I haven't gone swimming for a very long time."

"That's unfair." Evangeline said. "You're here once a year, of course, it'll be a long time since you went swimming with us."

"Evie, let's be kind to him." Eric said and leaned in. "After all it's going to be a thunderstorm tonight."

* * *

He wasn't sure if it was the thunder or the door opening, that woke him up. But now he was awake.

And he heard the sound of slow, almost sleepwalking-like, steps against the stone floor.

He was too tired to sit up in bed and just pulled the cover to the side.

She slowly crawled into his bed but jumped up when lighting stroke somewhere in the distance.

She wrapped her arms around him, clearly shaken.

He put his arms around her and pulled the covers over the both of them and held her tightly, trying to get her to stop shaking.

* * *

 **Hope you like it. :)  
**


	64. Chapter 64

**Hey guys, I've written an essay and read 60 pages of ancient history**

 **but somehow you still get a chapter.**

* * *

He slowly opened his eyes.

The sun was shining in through the window. The storm must have blown over during the night.

His eyes flew up when he realized that she was watching curiously.

"What is it?" He said rubbing his face, sitting up in bed.

"Nothing really," the girl said and sat up too. "It's just … I didn't want to wake you, you seemed so peaceful."

Wally yawned and stretched his arm. "What time is it?"

She shrugged. "Still breakfast I believe. Don't forget we're going to the lake afterwards."

Wally just smiled.

Not reminding her, that it had been his idea, to begin with.

"Okay, then." He said and sleepily put his feet floor. "I'll see you at breakfast … try not to let anybody see you on the way to your room."

She smiled and got out of bed. "It's a good thing I'm a master of that."

Then she snuck through the door and silently closed it behind him.

He smiled to himself. "Yes, you do Evie."

* * *

She smiled at all her grandchildren, as she handed a basket of lunch to Eric.

"You're taking your hunting gear?" She asked and glanced at the back of his horse.

"Yeah I figured, I could sneak off to hunt while the others were bathing or something." He smiled.

She returned it, and glanced at the others, making sure they weren't missing anything.

"Why aren't you coming with us, grandmother?" Sophie said from her spot in front of Evangeline.

She smiled warmly at the little girl. "I'd love to, but your grandfather needs my help with our guest."

The girl nodded. She understood. "Will you make sure Teddy's feed then?"

"Of course, my dear." She said. "And remember to come back in the afternoon, okay."

The three oldest nodded and put their horses in a trot towards the forest.

* * *

"I hope my grandson hasn't put you off our deal…" the Baron said.

Ra's al Ghul shook his head and smiled. "Of course not, I quite understand the problems with the younger generation."

The Baron seemed relieved.

"Good. You mentioned that he had helped you in the past, may I ask on what?"

"Nothing, in particular, he helped me with some formulas to get a product ready for the cause."

The Baron nodded. "I'm not surprised, Wallace is a very smart boy. It's my dream that he'll take over as the next baron."

Ra's al Ghul lifted an eyebrow.

"I thought the dark-haired one was older…"

"Eric? He is, but … he's a little strange and has always been difficult."

"Really…" Ra's al Ghul said. "But let's get back to our deal, shall we?"

"Of course," the Baron smiled. "We still have some … terms to discuss."

* * *

"Here," the man in the lab coat handed her a vial. "Be very careful with it, it's still in the experimental phase, I have no idea what will happen to you if some of it drips onto you."

Chesire smiled. "Don't worry the master has a plan, and I know just what to do."

Then she left.

The man didn't so much as shrug, and just returned to his work.

As long as those people didn't turn that stuff on him, he didn't care.

* * *

Wally very slowly took his clothes off, he wanted to see how much the girls to off before he jumped in.

Both Evangeline and Sophie wore old fashion underwear, so even though they were in their underwear, they were still dressed from neck to toe.

Wally signed relieved and pulled his shirt off but kept on his pants as he jumped in the water.

"Evie, are the elven folk coming to get us?" Sophie asked as Evangeline pulled her around in the water by her shoulders.

"Of course not…" She said and eyed Wally, who suddenly splashed water on them. "But Wally might…" she said and coughed.

"Yes, I'm taking you away…" Wally laughed villainess and pulled Sophie away from Evangeline and hoisted her up above the water and let himself fall backwards.

Eric pulled Sophie up from the water as soon as she hit it and held her there.

"Do it again." She smiled.

He just signed.

Sophie threw herself at Wally, who managed to catch her.

He looked up, and caught Eric looking at in that odd way.

They played in the water, just like had done every summer before when Wally came for a visit.

After a long while, Eric headed back to their clothes and started to dress himself.

"Where are you going?" Evangeline asked all three of them had stopped their game.

"I'm going to hunt for a while, don't wait for me." He said and mounted his horse.

He smiled as they got back to playing. There was only so long, before making Wally feel uncomfortable stopped being fun.

* * *

"So how far are we guys?" Artemis asked.

"The noble family should live just up ahead," Robin asked.

"Hey," Zatanna said and pointed to the ground. "Isn't that Chesire?"

Artemis looked down.

It was indeed.

"Why is she going into the forest?" Miss Martian asked.

"Don't know, but I'm going to find out." Artemis through gritted teeth. "Let me down."

Miss Martian did as she said without a word, and Artemis soon found herself on the ground.

As soon as she took a step. Chesire turned around and looked.

"Hey, little sis, did you bring all your little friends?"

"No," she said and smile. This was just what she needed right now. "Just me."

"Good." She said. "Because I don't even have time for you."

Then she threw a throwing-star at her.

It hit her ankle and cut her costume and a line of blood ran down her foot.

"Auh!" She yelled and touched her ankle.

"You should probably get that you at," Chesire said and started running.

Artemis bit her lip.

Her ankle hurt like hell. But she was not in a mood to let Jade get away.

So, she started running after her, biting into her lip the whole time.

She could see her not for ahead, but she could seriously feel the thumping in her ankle.

Then just as she was about to catch up with Chesire.

Suddenly the pain in her ankle exploded and she fell against the a three. It felt like something stabbed her.

She looked down, breathing heavily from the running.

Ironically it was the tip of an arrow, which had duck itself into the other side of her already injured ankle.

Then someone came through the bushes and looked at her terrified and looked down at her ankle.

"Oh, my god … are you, all right?" He asked with a polish British accent.

She looked up at him.

He was quite tall and had dark hair and a pair of blue eyes, and strangely enough, he was dressed … kind of old-fashioned.

* * *

 **I hope you like it, but I might chance it later :)**

 **see you next week.**


	65. Chapter 65

**I had a lot of things to do,**

 **but I hope you like the chapter. (I am almost satisfied with it)  
**

* * *

Artemis blinked, trying to focus.

The guy kneeled in front of her, his eyes fixed on her ankle.

He grimaced. "I¨m … really sorry about that."

Artemis looked down at the arrow. Had he shot her?

"It doesn't look like it's that bad," the guy said and looked up at her. "Just bear with it for a few seconds."

Before she could make a sound, he yanked the arrow out.

She gasped.

He pulled some white cloth and wrapped it around her ankle.

"This should do … at least until we get you to a doctor." He said and stood up again. He put out a hand for her to take. "Can you stand?"

She tried to stand up by herself, but the moment her legs gave way, he reached out and held her up.

"Apparently not," he commented.

"I'm fine," she said. "I need to get back to…"

He picked her up in a swift motion.

"What are you doing?" She asked both puzzled and quite offended, that he'd do something like that.

"You need to get your ankle looked at." He said and stepped through the pushes, which relieved a dark-colored horse.

"I can do that when I get back to my friends." She insisted.

"It's not just a scratch," he reminded her. "Besides the nearest doctor is 30 minutes away by car." He put her down beside the horse and looked at her with some skepticism. "Can you get on him?"

Artemis just looked at the big creature in front of her, and shook her head.

The guy just shrugged and put both his hands on her hips and lifted her onto the horse.

"Don't worry he's a pretty calm guy." He said, then he just took hold on the horse's headgear, made some weird clicking sound, and then the horse started moving.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"To my grandparent's house, they don't live far away." He said as he walked through the house.

"Why are _we_ going there?" She asked, holding on to the saddle, as she could feel the horse's muscles moving under her.

"Well, I couldn't leave an injured lady out in the wood, especially when I injured her." He smiled at her over his shoulder. "Besides my grandparents have a doctor on staff."

"Doctor on staff?" She repeated.

"Well, my grandparents aren't as young as they use to be."

Artemis nodded. "I really need to get back to my friends…"

"You can call hunting friends from my grandparents' house."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "what makes you think I'm hunting?"

He looked at her over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "You are wearing camouflage and have a bow and quiver, what else would you be doing in the forest?"

She nodded. It was probably best he didn't know what she was really doing.

Now that she took a look at him, he also had a bow on one shoulder and a quiver strapped to his back.

"Were you hunting too?" she asked.

"Yeah, I usually bring something home for dinner. I've never brought a lady home through." He smiled. "My grandparent's house is just out on the other side of this forest. I'll be there soon."

"Good." She said. The sooner they got there, the sooner would she be able to leave this weird guy and go back to the others.

"By the way, fair lady…" he asked, as he stopped the horses and turned around to face her. "What is your name."

"Artemis," she said without thinking and stuck her hand out.

He took it and lightly kisses the top of it. "I'm Eric."

* * *

Wally pulled on a nice, clean shirt.

Maybe being here wasn't so bad, at least he didn't have to think about Artemis at the moment, she was thousands of miles away.

He looked in the mirror and adjusted his shirt and pulled a jacket over it.

It was a bit high society, but there was also his grandmother and Evie and Sophie. He'd have to start college eventually, but he could still visit often.

There was a knock at the door.

when he opened it, Ra's al Ghul stood on the other side.

"Hello," he said.

Wally really wanted to just shut the door.

"May I come in?" he said.

Wally looked down each hallway. No one was there to call him rude, but … he really wanted to know what Ra's al Ghul was after, so he could get him to leave his grandparents alone.

He took a step to the side and let him in.

Ra's al Ghul walked into the middle of the room and looked around.

"I have a few questions for you." He said

* * *

as he faced him.

"I do too." He said and stepped closer.

"Who are you exactly?" Ra's al Ghul started out.

Wally was taken aback. Had he figured out he was Kid Flash?

He didn't answer.

"You were one of the teenagers working on xenothium, later I found out you were one of the smartest people in the world, and now you are the grandson of an English Baron. You are a bit of a mystery."

Wally raised and crossed his arms.

"I'm a complex guy. But what _I_ want to know is what are you doing with my grandfather." He asked.

"I told you last night, you and your family will be spokesmen for my cause." The older man smiled.

"I don't care what lie you told my grandmother. I want to know what agreement you've made with my grandfather." He said.

Ra's al Ghul smiled. The boy peaked his interest yet again.

"What makes you think we've made any such agreement."

"My grandfather is money hungry, proud and want his household to continue for generations more. And he'd do anything to get that, so what did you promise him?"

Ra's al Ghul smiled. "I promised him just that, all the money that he'll need and position in society."

Wally bit his lip. "For what?"

"Well, he'd help us by letting us use his name on official business." His grin was evil.

Wally swallowed something. "I have other things to see to, could you leave?"

* * *

"It's not as bad as I thought," the doctor said and wrapped the last layer bandages around her ankle. But it would be best not to walk to much for the next few days."

Artemis nodded and eyed the guy beside her.

His grandparents' house turned out to be a mansion.

So how are you feeling, dearest." The older woman sitting across from her asked.

"Fine," she tried to smile.

The older woman was the same one, she had met in Vlatava, though the woman didn't seem to remember.

"That's good, perhaps you should stay the next couple of days, to rest up." The woman smiled gently and sipped her tea.

"Oh … no, that would be weird, and … my friends are waiting for me." She said politely.

"Oh, nonsense." The woman said. "I insist since my grandson caused your injury and you should stay near a doctor still it's healed. You can call your friends and tell them where you are."

Artemis looked from one to the other. She couldn't figure out if they were pushy, or just very polite.

"I'll advise you to stay," said the doctor. "The Baroness is right, besides in a few days your ankle will be good as new."

Then he left.

"Well, now that this is more or less settled, will go entertain my cousin." Then the guy, Eric got up and walked out.

"Do all your grandchildren live with you?" She asked the older woman.

"Most of them, their parents died when they were young, so they have been under me and my husband's care for most of their lives. And yesterday the last of my grandchildren, Wallace, came for visit, he lives in America normally with his parents."

Artemis stopped for a moment.

Wallace? Where had she heard that name before?

She shook her head, she didn't have time for this, she needed to leave, no matter how polite and sweet this older woman was.

"Can I use the telephone?" She asked.

"Of course, there should be one out in the hall." The woman said and gestured to the door.

She smiled. Perfect.

* * *

Her ankle barely hurt at all, as she walked down the hall towards the exit.

That doctor must have been nuts or something.

As she got outside and turned to the right, she suddenly stood face to face with Cheshire.

She froze. "What are you doing here?"

She could almost hear her sister smile beneath the mask. "Working, and you?"

Her brain moved slowly. This couldn't be the noble family, they were sent out to keep an eye on, could it?

Cheshire looked her up and down then stopped at her ankle.

"Looks like you got hurt…" she said smilingly and stepped closer placing her foot over Artemis' ankle.

Artemis pushed her away before she could do anything.

Just what she needed. She had walked away from a caring older stranger and right into her crazy older sister, who wanted to hurt her.

Artemis moved as fast as she could, but her ankle did slow her down.

"C'mon, let's play like when we were little like dad taught us." Cheshire laughed behind her.

Artemis heard and odd clinging sound and continued moving until she got to close she could see what made the sound. Then she stopped.

It was that Eric guy fencing with another guy on the elevated edge of a water fountain, while the two yelling French words at each other.

Oddly enough Cheshire stopped right beside her.

Artemis couldn't believe her eyes.

"Wally?"

He looked up from the fight with a start and returned her surprised expression.

* * *

 **I'm really getting into this part of the story, so I look forwards to what you're going to think about next weeks chapter.  
**


	66. Chapter 66

**I kind of don't know where to go after this.**

* * *

ric took advantage of the of Wally's distraction and pushed him into the fountain.

He pulled the épée from his hands and smiled down at his cousin.

Wally coughed and splashed, apparently still in shock, but then seemed to sober up as he looked at his cousin.

"No fair!" He said, as he stood up and pointed at him accusingly. "I want a do-over!"

"Sorry dude," the older cousin smiled and jumped down from the edge of the fountain, sticking the two fencing swords in the ground as he did. "I have another appointment." He told him as he walked backwards away from him.

Then he stopped in front of Artemis.

"But first I must thank you, my fair lady, for adding me in my victory." He said and lifted her hand and kissed it.

Artemis blinked, confused. "Don't mention it…?"

The tall, dark-haired guy bowed to her, and gave her sister a polite, acknowledging nod, then went on his way.

Wally got out of the water fountain and shook his hands dry of water, though his clothes were still soaked.

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked, sounded somewhere in between displeased and generally curious.

Artemis blink, as if she had been in a trance, and looked at her sister confused, who she noticed didn't have her mask on anymore, then back at him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

Wally continued to try to shake the water off. "This is my grandparents' house…"

Artemis just blinked, not sure what to say.

This was just … too odd…

As she was standing there, trying to think of something to say, a way to explain … Cheshire suddenly stuck her hand out to Wally.

"I'm Jade, her sister." She smiled.

Wally was so shocked, he just shook her hand.

Suddenly it hit the both of them, that Cheshire had never seen Kid Flash without his mask, and therefore had no idea who the red-headed teen in front of her was.

"I'm Wallace," he said.

Cheshire, or Jade, looked over her shoulder in the direction Eric had disappeared in.

"Was he your brother?" She asked.

"No, he's my cousin…" He said politely.

She smiled pleased. "How old is he?"

"18," He said with a smile. Like he knew where she was going with the questions.

Artemis gave her a funny look.

"Wally?" They suddenly heard a girl called from behind them.

Both girls turned around to reveal a teenage girl with long red hair and green eyes, just like Wally's.

"Did you take a bath with your clothes on?"

* * *

"What?" Robin asked, he sounded shocked apparently, he hadn't known either. "What did you say to him?"

"I haven't really had a chance…"

"But you're are going to stay there?" He asked.

"They won't let me leave…" She whispered into the old-fashion phone.

"Okay," there was silent on the other end for a few seconds. "Stay there, fill Wally in on the situation and figure out what Ra's al Ghul is doing, and Artemis…?"

"Yes?" She said.

"Try not to get in a fight with him…"

She slammed the phone down.

"You should be careful with those."

She turned around to see Wally standing there.

She breathed in deeply.

"Hey," was all she could get out.

He smiled. "Hey,"

She just fidgeted.

"Why are you here?" Wally said after he took a deep breath.

"A mission…" she started.

Wally stopped her with a hand and pulled her into a room.

"What mission?" he asked, as soon as the door closed behind them.

"Ra's al Ghul is in contact with a noble family in the aria and we were supposed to figure out why." She explained.

"Yeah, mine." Wally said irritated.

"What?" She asked.

"He's here, and he's told me why he's here." He said.

Artemis made a face. "Why is he?"

"He wants to use my grandfather's name as a cover for some trading or something, he told the rest of my family we'd be _spokesmen_ for his cause." He said.

"Really?"

He nodded. "So, what are your sister doing here?"

She shrugged. "No idea, I kind of ran in to here, after I came here."

"So, your family just showed up here?"

"And your family … are nobles?" She asked in return.

He shrugged. "Yes…"

"Why did you never tell me?" She asked.

"Never really thought it would come up." He said and shrugged again.

"So, you're … what? A duke or something?" She asked.

"More like a grandson of a Baron, Eric is the heir to the title." He explained.

"Cool," she said, feeling the tension of the situation lift a little. "So, it looks like I'd be staying here for a couple of days until my ankle heals up."

Wally gave her a weird look. "You really don't have any intention of apologizing, do you?"

"Apologizing?" She said.

"Yes, for telling my dad about the college letters I was hiding from him, which got me in so much trouble that I got shipped off to England." He said unimpressed.

"I…" She fumbled. "You get to live with your rich grandparents, why are you complaining?"

Wally raised a stunned eyebrow at her. "Because my girlfriend went through my stuff, got me in trouble and is still to ignorant to apologize for it!"

She bit her lip.

"Look … I'm…"

Wally just stood there patiently, waiting for her to say it, and it irritated her.

"Why do I have to say it?" She snapped.

"Because that's what you do, when you've hurt someone." Wally said with a tried expression.

"Teddy, we have found them." They heard from the door.

Artemis turned around to a girl with a teddy bear in her folded arms.

"Well, I assume she is. Otherwise, why would Wally talk to her?" The girl said while looking at the bear.

"Well, it's a possibility, he is a bit of a gentleman." She continued to talk to the bear.

It creeped Artemis out.

"Sophie was there a reason for you to find us?" Wally asked with a smile.

The girl looked up at him. "Of course, there's afternoon tea and you two were gone."

* * *

"Master," she said and closed the door to the dark room.

"My dear?" Ra's al Ghul acknowledged. "Did you get what I asked?"

She nodded, even though he had his back to her and couldn't see, and lead out a syringe with a yellow liquid, that glowed in the darkness of the room.

He turned around and looked at it and smiled.

"This is very good," he said and took the syringe and held it between two fingers. Then he gave it back to Cheshire. "I'll tell you when and who to use this on, keep it safe and make sure it doesn't break. There's a reason why it is experimental."

She smiled and bowed. "I will Master, and I look forward to the show."

* * *

 **I don't know if I'll write next week, as I've got Fall-break.**

 **I feel like there's something wrong with my writting, or maybe it's because I write these things late in the evening.**


	67. Chapter 67

**I've read your comments from last week and I'll make a compromise: I'll speed up just a little and will try to finish the story this year, or at least before March.**

 **But I have a whole story Had I want to write and there are still a few chapters to go before I'm finished with Wally's grandparents. So hang in there :)**

* * *

"A carriage ride?" Artemis asked.

"Open carriage ride." Eric corrected her.

The little girl, Sophie, clapped her hands together as she looked up at her grandmother from her spot beside her chair. "Does that mean we'll go see Grandpa Innkeeper?"

The older woman patted the girl affectionately on the head.

"Yes, my dear." She smiled.

The little girl giggled with glee.

Artemis eyed Wally, who just looked away.

Eric followed her line of sight and smiled.

"Well then, I'll tell the coachman to get ready." He said and got up.

* * *

"You're leaving?"

She looked up with a start.

Their guest was standing beside her chair.

She found this man quite unnerving. She had just sat down in a chair on the patio for a quick rest before they'd leave, and he had come right when she was alone.

"Not for long, we'll visit an old friend of mine." She smiled politely.

He gave a short nod and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Forgive me, my lady, but you don't seem happy … in your marriage?"

She glanced up at him, wondering how he noticed, hoping it wasn't an observation.

"You are forgiven…" she said, quite impolitely.

The man raised an eyebrow. "I did not mean any offense, I…"

"And yet you offended me!" She cut him off.

"Then … I'm to assume it's true…" He continued.

She signed angrily and got up from the chair, stepping away from him.

"It is true … I have tried so hard … to be happy in my marriage, but…" She glanced back at their guest. "I haven't been in love with my husband for a very long time."

He didn't so much as blink.

"I hope that you are content with my answer." She said as she walked past him.

"And what, my dear, would you do if you could get back those years, you weren't in love with him." He then said.

She stopped and looked back at him.

"I don't know what plans my husband have with you, but I do warn you. Don't offend me or my husband again!"

Then she walked away.

Ra's al Ghul just smiled to himself.

* * *

Artemis felt a lump in her throat.

Every time she looked at Wally, he looked away. The red-headed teenage girl almost seemed to mimic him. The little girl with the teddy bear eyed her suspiciously.

Though both Eric and the older woman were nice to her and spoke politely to her while the carriage took them through the countryside.

The little girl started leaning over the edge of the carriage.

"Grandmother I see it! I see it!"

Artemis strained her neck to try to see, where they were going, but all she could see was a farm in the distant.

The grandmother pulled the girl closer.

"Careful my dear." She smiled.

"Where are we going again?" Artemis whispered to Eric, who sat beside her.

"Grandpa Innkeeper," he said and smiled at her confused. "Don't worry, you'll see."

As they got closer to the farm, the carriage came to a halt.

A child playing outside rushed into the house, a few seconds later an old man came out and looked at them with shining green eyes.

"Wendy!" He smiled and spread out his arms.

The older woman stepped down from the carriage and ran to the man. "Edward." She signed and pulled again. "It has been too long, brother." Then he pulled her into another hug.

Eric got down from the carriage and offered a dumfounded Artemis his arm.

She took it.

"Brother?" She whispered.

"Indeed." He said, as the little girl bounced from the carriage steps and jumped into the old man arms.

"Our grandmother was the daughter of an innkeeper when her father died the oldest of her younger brothers took over the inn," Eric explained. "Come let me introduce you."

* * *

There was a knock at the door.

Paula looked up from her book. Who could that be?

"Yes?" She said loudly, and the door opened and relieved David from across the hall.

"Hey, Paula. I just came to give you your mail and make sure you're okay." He smiled.

"Oh, thank you." She returned his smile. "Was there mail today?"

"Just a letter," he said and handed her an envelope. "Seems personal."

"Thank you," she said again.

"Do you need anything?" He asked and looked around.

"No, I'm okay, but if you…"

Suddenly his phone rang.

"Hey," he said into it and then his face hardened. "Okay, I'll be there." Then he closed his phone and looked at Paula. "I have to go, there some problems…"

Paula smiled and nodded. "I'll be fine."

And then he was out the door.

She looked at the envelope and opened it.

Inside was an old photo of her, Mila and Silver.

She looked at it with confusion and suspicion.

Why would anyone send her that? And who would even have something like this of her?

She turned it over.

 _Looking forward to see you all at the reunion._

* * *

She felt claustrophobic in the room, even though it was big, there were so many people.

"Look, Wendy." The Innkeeper said showing off a baby nestled in his arms. "My newest grandchildren."

The older woman took the child with ease and smiled at the little thing. "How precise."

"Well," A boy around their age said loudly and stood up on a table. "Let's brighten the mood a bit before dinner, shall we?"

Someone handed her a violin and he started playing.

The melody got faster as people around the room got up and headed towards the small area in the middle of the room free of tables.

"What's happening?" She whispered.

"They're getting ready to dance," Eric explained. "This inn is famous for it's dancing an musical entertainment."

Wally was pulled off by the red-haired teenage girl.

"What's the story with them?" Artemis asked.

Eric gave her a funny look. "Wally and Evie, they're cousins, and are very close, people often mistake them for twins because they look so much alike."

Artemis nodded and followed them with her eyes as they started to dance to the music that continued to speed up.

"Come on my lady," Eric said as he stood up. "Let's dance."

Artemis looked up at him horrified.

When she didn't say anything, he just pulled her up from the bench and towards the dancefloor.

* * *

Before she knew what was going on, Eric was swinging her around the floor and suddenly passed her to another man, who swung her around even faster, as the music seemed to just speed up more and more.

After that happened a few times she started to get the hang of it.

She smiled. It was actually kind of fun.

Then when the guy passed her off to the next she smiled up at them.

It was Wally.

She froze, but Wally pulled her around in the dance and then of the dancefloor and outside.

She gasped at the cold outside.

He led her to a bench just beside the door and sat down beside her.

There was quiet for a bit. The sun was setting behind a hill in the distance.

She signed and looked at him.

"Look … I'm sorr…"

Before she could finish, he kissed her.

"I'm sorry too," he said. "I shouldn't have blamed you, my dad would have found out at some point."

She signed relieved and forgot everything about the cold wind and setting sun.

"And I should have apologized sooner, I shouldn't have looked at your things…"

Their lips meet slowly.

Both seemed to forget time and place, until the wind picked up.

Wally looked up. "We should get inside, it's going to storm soon."

* * *

"It too dangerous to take the carriage home now," the coachman explained.

"Well, it's a good thing we have a lot of guest rooms." The old innkeeper said.

Wally's grandmother smiled. "Then will you phone my husband and tell him he won't be home until the morning? I'll hate for him to worry."

"I'll do that." He said as a man placed a pot on the table. "Now eat up, it's rabbit stew."

"And who'll be watching the baby tonight?" Wally's grandmother asked.

* * *

"And here is your room?" the young man said, pushing open the door to a small room with just a small bed and a small table with a lamp.

Artemis sat on the bed and looked down herself, the clothes were something she had borrowed from the red-haired girl, Evie. She didn't really care about sleeping in it or not, so she just laid down on the bed.

There had been quiet for a while when suddenly there was a bang from outside.

She sat up with a start.

There was some talking and running in the hallway, she got up and walked to the door and opened it just a little bit.

The girl Evie was standing just outside her door, looking further down the hall.

"Wally?" She seemed to whisper and jumped when there was another bang.

Artemis watched as Wally came into view and Evie jumped into his arm and clung to him.

He seemed to try and calm her down and guided her down the hall, the way he came.

Artemis opened the door further and watched him take her into a room, She assumed was Wally's.

She knitted her brows and just stood there.

Her mind went to a place, she didn't want to go. They were cousins after all, and she had gotten jealous before without there being nothing to it.

She signed. She needed some air. She thought. Completely forgetting about the storm outside.

She slowly walked down the stairs, trying not to make a sound.

As she got down she could both hear the strong wind and feel how it pulled at the house.

She was rethinking going outside.

"Hello, my dear…"

She got a shock as she saw Wally's grandmother sitting by candlelight in a corner of the room.

"Can't sleep for the storm either?"

* * *

 **I hope you like it. I really don't want to give anything away, but it's going to be a few chapters before this arc of the story is over, it might be more than a few.**

 **I can't make any promises, I just hope you'll stay for the ride.**


	68. Chapter 68

**Hey**

 **Sorry, I didn't update last week, I had some problems...**

 **But I'm back on track now and you get a chapter :)  
**

* * *

Artemis bit her lip. "Yeah, kind of…"

The old woman smiled and patted the bench beside her.

Artemis took the hint and sat down beside her.

"What are you doing?" She asked when it occurred to her that the old woman was just sitting there with a mug.

"Watching over the baby," she said and gestured to a cradle in the corner.

"Why isn't she with her parents?"

The woman smiled in the candlelight. "It's an old tradition, we watch the babies the first few nights to make sure the elven folk doesn't take them away."

"Elvenfolk?" Artemis repeated, skeptical.

The woman nodded. "A fairy people that loves human babies and swap them with their own."

Artemis just nodded.

"And what brings you down here?" The woman then asked her.

Artemis didn't say anything. She really didn't know what to say.

"Here," the woman offered her a mug.

She took it and tasted the content.

It was thick and sweet, but she wasn't sure what it was.

"Are you in love … with my grandson?" The old woman asked.

Artemis almost dropped the mug.

"Eric?" She said, thinking she must have seen how nice he was to her and misinterpreted it. "We've just met."

The old woman smiled behind her mug. "I wasn't talking about Eric."

Artemis eyes grew big.

The woman put her mug down. "I recognized you from the party in Vlatava."

"How?" Was all she could get out.

"Well for starters the mask barely covered the upper part of your face…" Then she leaned forward a bit. "And the engagement ring was mine."

Artemis blinked. That ring Wally had given her…

"I'd given it to Wally a few years ago, as a kind of inheritance."

Artemis knitted her brows.

The older woman seemed to notice because she started to explain: "You haven't heard of us from Wally before you came here, right?"

Artemis grimaced as she shook her head.

"You see young lady … Wallace's mother didn't like the rules that her father put down, and … when she was 17, she ran away…" The old woman looked down. "One day, she wasn't there anymore … I didn't hear from her for so many years, I had no idea where my little girl was…" Then she smiled bitterly. "Then about 16 years ago, she wrote me a letter, saying that she was happy, married and had a little boy … my husband didn't want us to contact have any contact with her. He said that what she had done was disgraceful and that she would one day come begging for help and we'd turn her away." From the look on her face, she hadn't agreed with her husband.

"Then how come Wally is here?" Artemis asked.

The woman smiled again. "When he was ten years old his IQ was tested and when my husband found out he was a genius … he saw an opportunity for Wally to be the next leader of the family…"

"But…" Artemis started, but was interrupted by the wind pulling at the house.

She shrieked in fear.

"Don't worry my dear, this house has withstood much worse than this." The woman said. When Artemis still shook, she stood and fetched a mug and put it in front of her. "Drink this, it'll warm you up."

Artemis took a sip of the mug. It tasted bitter, but it did warm her up a bit.

"So … did you grow up here?" She asked.

The old woman smiled in the glow of the candlelight.

"I was born in that room over there." She said and pointed to a door not far from the corner. "I was the firstborn, a girl, my father was worried…"

"Worried?"

She just continued to smile. "Back then boys were favored, mostly because my parents need a son that could inherit the inn."

There was a long bang from above them.

Artemis jumped, but the woman just continued to gently smile.

"We used to sit just like this on stormy nights, drinking hot drinks and telling stories till the storm passed." She said and looked at Artemis. "A few years after I was born, the first of my little brothers were born." She laughed. "In the end I got five brothers, so my father was quite happy. The problem only came later."

Artemis sipped from the mug and leaned in, the old woman's story sounded interesting and distracted her from what she had seen upstairs. "What happened?"

"I was about twelve or thirty years old when my father fell off his horse … he was hurt so badly that he could barely walk and never sit on a horse again. Hunting was the only way to feed our family and the guest we got at the inn, it was a death sentence for us."

There was another bang against the roof, and the baby started crying.

The woman just got up and took the baby from the cradle and rocked it slowly.

"Then … what did you do?" Artemis asked, when the grandmother sat down again with the now quiet baby still wrapped in her arms.

There was almost magical in watching this old woman calm a crying baby by candlelight.

"We did the only thing we could do." She said in a soft voice. "The oldest of my brothers were nine and too young to hunt, so my father trained me to hunt."

"Hunt?" Artemis fought to keep the liquid in her mouth.

The old woman nodded. "I was really good, brought all kind of animals home, from rabbits to deer. And I loved every second." She almost glowed as she remembered her youth. "I would go out hunting during the day with only my horse and bow for company, and in the evening, I would play my violin, entertaining our guest and danced my heart away." The baby stirred in her arms. "I became quite the attraction … people came from far and wide to see the female hunter." She said, as she got up and put the baby back in the cradle.

"Female hunter?" Artemis asked, completely consumed by the woman's story.

She looked at her from the cradle. "People weren't quite as … creative back then." Then she looked down in the cradle. "And those were some happy days, until he arrived…"

"Who?"

Wally's grandmother looked up from the cradle again and sat back down. "My husband Eric. A storm, much like this, had broken out and forced to stay at the inn. He was tall, dark-haired, well-dressed and quite handsome and when he saw me…" She smiled and sipped from her mug. "He smiled at me so sweetly…" Then she laughed. "Of course, many boys and men had smiled at me like that. But he truly thought it would work. He asked me to dance, and we did … but we clearly had a different understanding of dancing. He complimented me, and I was flattered, but I didn't fall at his feet like I think he intended."

"So, you weren't interested?"

She smiled. "Not at first, but he started coming to the inn every day and he slowly wore me down. We go for all walks, ride our horses together, dance together. It was only one summer, but It was the best summer in my life. When fall came he proposed, I said yes … and then he began to convince his parents to allow it."

"His parents didn't like you?" Artemis asked confused.

The woman just smiled. "They didn't know me. He was the son of a Baron and I was the daughter of an innkeeper, that was all they needed. Back then I thought it was so romantic, but as soon as his parents finally accepted, things went down hill."

Artemis noted that her mug was empty, but she didn't want to interrupt the story.

"As soon I arrived at his mansion, my training began. I barely saw my husband instead, my days were spent learning how to live and act like a lady, I couldn't even hunt anymore, because that was a too brutal activity for a lady. It was almost torture to me, and when I finally saw Eric again … he was suddenly cold and demanding and wanting me to be the perfect lady, he couldn't use the wild daughter of an innkeeper he'd had a romance within the woods in this setting." She looked really sad. "I thought it was because he was stressed, that if I became the perfect lady and we got married, he'd go back to be the warm, passionate man I'd fallen in love with. But nothing worked, not after we got married, not after I bore him a son, not after I bore him daughters, not after Mary ran away from home … he never became … warm again…"

Artemis reached out and grabbed the woman's hand.

The woman looked up at her and smiled bitterly. "I'm sorry for rambling on like that…"

"You don't need to apologize." The words were just flowing from her, but Artemis really didn't know what to say. "You're not happy, are you?"

She shook her head. "I haven't been happy for a very long time in my marriage. I'm little more than a horse he's tamed and shows off just to show what a great tamer he is."

"But why don't you just leave?" Artemis asked. That seemed like a solution to her.

"I can't abandon my grandchildren, not now."

"What about their parents?" She asked.

The woman looked down and looked uncomfortable. "They're not here anymore … Eric's parents died in a car accident when he was five, and Evangeline and Sophie's … parents … they were murdered in a home invasion at night during a thunderstorm… The girls were found the next day hiding in a closet, clinging to each other." She smiled bitterly at Artemis. "Because of that, they can behave rather oddly, like Sophie talking to her teddy bear, especially on nights with storm and thunder. They'll run to Eric and Wally in the middle of the night because they're scared to be alone … which I guess you saw and is the reason you came down here." She finished with a smile.

Artemis signed. "I feel like an idiot…"

"You are not." Wally's grandmother said. "You are a young woman in love."

Artemis smiled. But then the woman continued. "But I think you should be aware of what you'd be getting into."

"What?"

"I was deeply in love, and gave up everything for it, but ended up quite unhappy. You are not the kind of person who'd like obeying strict rules for the rest of your life … if Wallace becomes the next Baron, that's what would happen…"

Artemis' memory flickered back to the little queen of Vlatava. "But I thought Eric was older than Wally, would that make him the next Baron." Her head was spinning with the talk of Baron and two people called Eric and…

"Eric is not keen on becoming the next Baron, and turns every suitable girl his grandfather finds away, so my husband set his sights on Wally for the position." Then she got up and gently touched Artemis' arm. "I have said far too much, you should go to bed child, we'll leave just after breakfast…"

* * *

He scanned out into the fields outside the window and saw the young men and women of the household playing on the grass.

And then smiling picked up the phone.

It ran a few times, before Lex picked up.

"Did it work?" Was the first that came through the phone.

"We've had a slight delay, but don't worry it'll get started today, feel free to set the next phase of the plan in motion." He explained.

"I'll begin, but we should wait until we get results," Lex told them.

"I'll have the results in a few days, just focus on getting everything we need, I'll provide the rest." Ra's al Ghul smiled evilly.

"I look forward to your report," Lex said, and the phone went dead.

* * *

She smiled.

The midday sun warmed her old bones and she could hear her grandchildren playing on the grass below the balcony.

She could hear the girl, Artemis too. She hadn't meant to be so hard on her the day before, but… she saw a lot of herself in the girl and didn't want her to get hurt the same way she did.

"Madam, I have your tea for her." A voice said from behind.

She didn't bother turning around or even opening her eyes, she was far too comfortable at the moment.

"Just place it on the table please." She said and made a lazy gesture to the table.

"Yes, Madam."

The accent seemed flawed and off, but … she could just be a new maid from another country.

Suddenly she felt a painful prick on her left shoulder. Her eyes flew opened and she sat up with a start.

The maid behind her loudly clapped her hands together.

She turned around in the chair, to the girl holding out her hand with a dead wasp.

"There was a wasp on you Madam." She said. "I hope it didn't sting you."

"Oh, I think it did." She said and tried to reach the spot on her shoulder where she was stung.

"Do you need anything else, Madam?" The maid asked.

"No," she shook her head. "You can go back."

As the maid walked away, she leaned back in her chair and took the teacup from the table.

She smiled. The sun really felt nice, she could feel how the pain in her shoulder quickly went away and she felt a little tired all of a sudden…

* * *

 **It's a bit longer than normal, but I really like it.**

 **What do you think?**

 **Did I explain the situation with Evie well enough?**

 **Anyway, I hope you like it :)**


	69. Chapter 69

**This chapter is a bit of a filler, but I hope you like it.**

* * *

He had just thrown the ball to the next one in the circle when the alarm on his phone went off.

"Sorry," he said and took a few steps back. "I have another appointment."

Then he started walking towards his house, while the others started just made the circle smaller and continued the game.

He glanced over his shoulder.

Artemis seemed to have gotten closer to Wally. Not that he hadn't expected that there was this aura of nervousness and attraction around them. Plus, she had called Wally, well Wally, which meant that they must know each other to some degree. Whatever the case, it could become rather amusing.

When he had gotten up on the second floor. He bumped right into a maid exiting from the balcony.

"I'm so sorry," he said and catch the tray she almost dropped.

She clearly hadn't seen him either.

"Yes, I'm sorry … too." Said the maid as she lifted her head to look him in the eye, but as soon as their eyes meet, she fell silent.

Eric leaned his head to one side. She wasn't a maid he knew, but she did seem familiar…

"I'm sorry," he said after it occurred to him that he was staring at her. "I'm not sure I know who you are." Where after he fully expected the woman to tell him.

But instead, she smiled seductively at him. "Do you want to?"

He raised a confused eyebrow, but then it suddenly occurred to him what she was doing.

He gave her a polite smile and moved back a little. "Unfortunately, I have another engagement, so maybe next time."

Then he walked past her, not even noticing the syringe in her hand.

Chesire smiled as she looked at him from behind.

That guy was very good looking, and according to her master could be the next owner of this mansion aka. rich guy.

* * *

The oven beeped, and she rushed to get the meet out.

They should be here any moment, and she wanted the table to look at least a little decent.

She ran a knife over the meat. The sound of the crisp shell rang through her ears.

She smiled and put it on the table.

Then the door flew opened.

"Mommy!" Ashley said excited, as the door clicked shut behind her.

She had no idea whether he was in the house or not.

"Ashley take off your shoes first," she then heard him say.

There were some scuffling sounds, and then another "mommy!" and her quick, light steps, before the little girl collided with her legs.

"Mommy I was really good today, Nico said so." She laughed.

She patted her on her head. "That was good, sweetheart."

"She is one of my best students," Nicholas said, he was closer than she thought.

"Mommy can I eat in my room." Ashley suddenly said.

"Why do you want to do that?" She asked confused.

Suddenly the little girl started explaining about this new cartoon, which had something to do with cats, was on tv in a few moments and she really wanted to watch it in her room.

She just smiled. "Okay, get your food and go, I'll be in to get you into bed later."

The little girl agreed and got some food from Nicholas, before disappearing from the room.

"I'm sorry," she said, as she sat down with him sitting across from her.

"Why are you apologizing?" She could hear him smiled.

"I told you, if you brought her home, we could all eat dinner together…"

"She's a little girl, it doesn't bother me, that she'd rather watch cartoons than look at me."

She smiled. "That's … good."

"By the way, I got your mail, I hope you don't mind." He said as they started eating.

"Mail?" She said confused. She couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten any mail.

"Yeah, this came for you." He said.

She raised his head to his level, having no clue what he was referring to.

Then after a few seconds of silence, fingers gently wrapped around her wrist, while a thick piece of paper was put in her hand.

"Oh," she said and pulled her hand back and put the letter down beside her plate.

"Do you want me to read it for you?" He asked.

"No need to," she said sipped her voice. "I'll get Ashley to read it tomorrow."

"You get your daughter to read your letter?" He sounded appalled.

"Yes, I rarely get mail she shouldn't read." She said.

"Silver … do I make you uncomfortable?" He suddenly said.

"Not particularly," she said. "Please take offense of the fact I won't let you read my mail."

He laughed. "No, it's not that, though I think you should let Ashley read it either. But … you seem real … alert around me…"

He seemed like he wasn't sure about what to say.

"Don't worry," She said and drank some more wine. "It nothing like that, I just have a hard time hearing where you are most the time, so I … alert because I'm trying figure that out."

"Hearing where I am?" He echoed confused.

She knitted her brows. "People usually make some noise, when they move, but you don't, and Ashley isn't making so much noise anymore either."

Nicholas then started laughing. "So, I stomp when I walk?"

She smiled. "No, I just think it's odd."

"Well, I've always been _graceful_ when I walk, though … people usually haven't always referred to it as graceful." He said.

"Well, it is a problem for me, that you are … _graceful_ …" she said and emptied her glass.

"More wine?" He asked. She could hear the clinging as he took hold of the wine bottle.

Her smiled got wider, and she pushed the glass towards him. "Yes, please."

* * *

"Nana?" She heard a faint voice say. "Nana?"

She slowly opened her eyes.

Evie was gently tugging at her sleeve while Sophie was standing on the other side of the chair.

She smiled and sat up. She felt great.

"What is it, my darlings?" She asked.

"You should be sleeping in the sun grandmother," Evangeline said.

"And Teddy was wondering if he could take one of the cookies, you didn't eat," Sophie said.

"Of course, Teddy can get a cookie." Their grandmother said and then turned to Evie. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"Not sure," she said. "When we came in from playing you were sleeping, so we decided to wake you."

"It was a beauty sleep." The younger girl said, after studying her grandmother for a few seconds.

She reached out and patted the girl on the head.

"Well…" the woman said and covered her mouth to yawn. "Shall we go find some food, I am rather hungry at the moment."

"Of course," the older granddaughter said and just as she was about to offer her grandmother some help, the woman stood up with ease.

"Are you okay, Nana?" She asked concerned, knowing about the older woman joint problems.

"Yes, I actually feel rather good after that nap, perhaps I should sit out here more often." She finished with a smile.

"Then let's go, Teddy is hungry too," Sophie said and pulled at her grandmothers' hand.

She just smiled and followed along. "Where are the others?"

"Eric is here somewhere," Evie said. "And Wally and … the blond girl … what was her name again? Something with A … they're in his room, talking I think."

"Grandmother I don't like that girl," Sophie said, slowing her pace. "When is she leaving?"

"Calm yourself, child, she's our guest for now." The old woman said as they walked down the hall.

"Though she does seem to know Wally, and Eric likes her too, it's rare for him to show interest in a girl." Evie joined in.

"You shouldn't gossip, Evie." Her grandmother said and straightened her back, something she rarely did because it was painful. "If she wants us to know she'll tell." Though the old woman with a glimmer in her eye.

Evie smiled. She hadn't seen her grandmother like this in a while. She even kept her back straightened, which made her appear taller and more elegant than before.

She glanced into a study where their other guest was talking with a maid. She furrowed her brow that wasn't one of their maids…

"Let's call on Wally for lunch, shall we? He always has an appetite." Her grandmother said, causing her to turn her head back to her.

"Of course," She said, smiled and nodded, and stopped thinking about nonsense, she left that for Wally and Eric.

* * *

Wally threw himself back on his bed in frustration.

"What is it?" Artemis asked.

"It just doesn't make sense…" He said. "Sure, Ra's al Ghul would benefit from using my grandfather's name for things like shipping stuff all over the globe, and my grandfather would benefit from the money Ra' al Ghul would give him or whatever, but there have to be something more, right? I mean, why else would he come all this way?"

Artemis laid down next to him.

"But maybe it's just it, maybe he just chose a family at random, or chose an English noble family because he knew no one would connect him to such a family." She said.

"And if that is the case…" Wally said finishing her train of thought and sat up. "What is he shipping, that's so important?"

* * *

 **Again, Hope you like it, I personally do.**

 **see you next time.**


	70. Chapter 70

**I have been having a few problems these last few weeks, and I think it shows in my writing**

 **Sorry :)  
**

* * *

"Erik Branigan, B-R-A-N-I-G-A-N," Wally said into the phone.

"Any idea where we should start looking?" Robin asked.

Wally signed and ran a hand down his face. "I have no idea, I can only think that it'll be somewhere in Europe…"

"Okay…" Robin said a little hesitant.

"Me and Artemis will try to figure it out from our end," Wally said and smiled at Artemis, who was still sitting at the couch.

"So … your grandfather is a Baron? … even I didn't know that about you…" He could hear the smile in Robin's voice.

"Don't start, or I'll tell the others your name." He warned.

Robin laughed. "Hope both of you will come back soon."

"Yeah … I'll call you back later."

He signed as he turned off the phone.

"What is it?" Artemis asked and stood up.

"Nothing," he said and shook his head. "I just … really don't like how my family is involved…"

Artemis opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the door opened and the ten-year-old girl with the teddy bear eyed her suspiciously.

After given her the evil eye, the girl turned to Wally.

"Grandmother wants you to join us for dinner." She said.

Wally smiled and nodded to Artemis. "Can I bring her too?" He asked the little girl with a smile.

* * *

Artemis was kind of enjoying herself.

Wally's grandmother was talking and talking, and the conversation with Wally and his two cousins made sure she could enjoy the sandwich without being asked.

She hardly even listened to the conversation, but it had to do with a nap and how much better she felt after, and Wally did keep telling her that she seemed different. And when Artemis did look up from her plate the older woman did seem different, taller, and her movements were more graceful.

"So, any of you have any idea where Eric ran off to?" The woman asked with a smile.

"No," They said, all three, almost in unisons.

"I hope he can join us for dinner," she said and stood up in one smooth, elegant motion. Her grandchildren looked at her with amazement. "I think I'll go take a look at the horses, it seems like I haven't done that in a while?"

"Are you going to ride them?" The little girl asked with skepticism.

Their grandmother smiled and shook her head. "Of course not, I haven't been able to get on a horse for a very long time."

When she left the room, Wally and his cousins looked at each other.

"You saw it right?" The older girl asked.

Artemis looked at Wally, not understanding.

"Yeah…" he said sounding stunned. "It was happening while we were talking."

Artemis looked from one to the other.

"What happened?" She asked.

The girl looked at her. "You didn't see her wrinkles disappearing, while she was talking?"

"I'm going to find Erik." The little girl said and jumped off her chair.

* * *

She caressed the horse.

For some reason, she felt nostalgic and just wanted to be near a horse.

The leaned her forehead against the horse's and signed, thinking back to the time when she rode a horse every day…

"Good afternoon, madam."

She turned around and saw … their guest.

"Can I help you?" She asked defensively.

"Not with anything particular." He said, sounding oddly pleased. "I just wanted to know how you are feeling…"

"How I'm feeling?" She repeated.

He just nodded.

"I feel rather good … today…" She said, rather confused.

He nodded, seemingly pleased with the answer. "I'm happy to tell you that my negotiations with your husband are almost in place."

"Good," she smiled politely. "I hope you will be leaving as soon as they are."

When she slowly walked passed him. He smiled, seeing just what the experiment was doing to her.

* * *

She signed relieved. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept so well, with a man's arms around her.

She suddenly jerked away, and almost fell out of the bed, if he hadn't pulled her back.

"Silver, what's wrong?"

She had no idea what to do, that was Nico's voice … what had she done…?

"What happened?" She asked stunned.

She heard him sit up in bed. "Are you telling me you don't remember?"

Suddenly there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Mom I'm dressed, will you make me breakfast, I'm hungry!" Ashley said loudly from the other side of the door.

She couldn't move from sheer fear. How was she going to explain to Ashley, that her dance teacher had slept over, in her bed?

* * *

She felt rather tired as she walked the hall to the dining room.

"Madam," the maid greeted her as she entered. "The Baron will not be joining you for dinner tonight."

She signed and sat down in her chair.

"Sorry to be late Nana," Evie said and sat down at the table. "Sophie and I tried to find Eric, but we couldn't."

"That's okay my dear, He'll turn up." She smiled.

Soon the others came into the dining room, and when the food was set on the table, the door sprang up.

"Sorry, I'm late," Eric said. "My bike sprang a leak and I wanted to repair."

He fell silent, when he saw his grandmother and looked at her in disbelieve.

The dinner was normal, though a little more silent than usual, as her grandchildren stared at her crimson red hair lock.

* * *

He got out of bed at his usual time and started getting dressed by the window.

He glanced over at his wife. She was completely covered by her duvet.

She had already been in bed when he got there. He had assumed she was agitated over something. He shook his head. The fairer sex could be so fickle.

"Wendy, it's time to get up." He said as he buttoned his shirt.

"Is the sun even up?" It came muffled from beneath the duvet. Her voice sounded different, smother than her usually hoarse one.

"Mister Ra's al Ghul will be joining us for Lunch and I need you to get the children to behave, especially Wally and Eric." He said and took a jacket from his closet and put it on. "I'll like the two of them to attend the last meeting I have with him before he leaves…"

There was some mumbling under the duvet.

He adjusted his clothes in the mirror.

"Wendy, I have no time for…"

"I'm coming, Eric. I'm just a little tired." She said and pulled the duvet down and sat up in their bed.

Her husband stopped what he was doing when he saw her reflection in the mirror and stunned turned around to look at her.

* * *

 **I'm tired.**

 **So I'll see you guys next week :)  
**


	71. Chapter 71

**I'm really looking forward to what you think of this chapter :)**

* * *

He couldn't get a word out and just stared at her.

"What's wrong?" She asked and put her feet on the floor and stood up from the bed.

Immediately her nightgown started sliding down her shoulder.

She quickly held it in place but was very confused.

Her nightgown which fit her perfectly the night before, how…

She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and slowly walked towards it still holding on to the nightgown tightly, stunned at what she saw.

The figure she saw mirrored her movements and looked at her with eyes big from fear and confusion.

Her husband just standing there beside her, watching her as she placed a hand on the mirror's surface. As did the figure.

She couldn't even gasp. She touched her cheek with a shaking hand. The skin was soft and smooth, so was her hands. Her curly, crimson hair hung over her shoulders.

She looked down herself. Her feet seemed smooth and quite smaller than usual.

"Wendy?" Her husband said unsure like he wasn't sure it was her.

She turned to him with hopeless eyes.

She looked like a teenage girl!

* * *

He leaned against the window, as two male servants walked on a path below.

He smiled as his eyes changed.

 _The young count seems to have grown up as of late, don't you agree? He's taking his studies more serious…_

 _In the end, he's just a bastard brat. He probably found out just how unstable his position is._

He leaned his head to the side. He couldn't figure out which person said what.

"Count?"

He turned to his mom.

She looked at him expectantly.

"I couldn't figure out, who said what." He answered the silent question.

She leaned her head to the side, mimicking his movement from before. "But you could hear them when you wanted to, that's a good start."

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in…" He said loudly, without leaving the window.

Rozalina peeked her head through a crack in the door.

"Sara? There's a letter for you, I was told to give it directly to you." She said and handed her a white envelope.

"Thank you," she said and opened the letter.

He smiled at Rozalina, who gave him a strange look but then ignored him as she left.

He looked at his mom, who had taken a piece of paper out of the envelope and stared at it with eyes that grew big with fear.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Nothing…" She said and crumpled the piece of paper in her fist.

He pondered whether or not to try to read her mind, but when her eyes became catlike, he instantly abandoned that train of thought.

* * *

All of them looked confused at their grandfather, who sat stiffly in his chair.

"Where's grandmother?" Sophie asked with her teddy bear hanging from her arms.

"She'll be having her breakfast in her room." He said stiffly.

The other grandchildren looked at him.

"Why?" Evie asked.

"She's feeling under the weather…" He continued with his stiff tone and seems uncomfortable.

"She seemed fine last night," Erik said.

He signed and suddenly turned to Artemis who had sat down at the table. "When are you going home?"

Artemis didn't know what to say.

"So, what is actually wrong?" Wally asked.

His grandfather didn't say a word.

"Okay…" Erik signed and got up from the chair, he had just sat down in, as if they have made a final decision. "I'm going to check on grandmother."

He had barely stepped away from his chair when his grandfather started.

"You will do no such thing!"

"Why?" Sophie asked. "If grandmother is sick, we'll cheer her up."

The old man was seething. "It's not your concern."

"Oh, it is…" Evie said. "… especially when you act like this…"

The old man blinked and fell silent, they had known something was off the minute they saw him.

His grandchildren got up from the table in silence and got out of the dining room, Wally pulling Artemis with them.

Then the old man got up and followed them.

* * *

Evangeline knocked at the door, there was no answer.

"Maybe she's sleeping," Sophie said.

Erik just pushed the door open.

Evie was the first person in the bedroom.

"Nana?" She sounded confused.

The rest of them stepped into the room and saw a young woman sitting up in their grandmother's bed, looking up at them with big, green, wet eyes.

The duvet pulled up as far as it could, but she still stretched out her arms to arms.

Erik took an uneasy step forward. "What happened to you?"

"She was like this when we woke up." The grandfather explained. "I don't know how it could have happened."

Wally gave his grandfather a funny look and stepped towards his grandmother. "She turned into a teenager overnight, which is physically impossible, of course, you have no idea what happened." He touched his young grandmother's face like he wanted to be sure that she was real. "But I have heard…" He stopped before he finished the thought.

"What?" Artemis asked.

Wally glanced at his grandfather.

"I'll need to test this."

Then Sophie crawled up in the bed. "Grandmother, you look just like Evie."

* * *

She was very confused.

Nicholas was sitting at the table chatting with Ashley, while she was braiding her hair.

"Well, I have to get to work, I have to oversee rehearsals for the next show." He said.

"Do you think I'll be in the next one?" Ashley asked.

"I'm sure." She could hear his smile. "Well, goodbye my ladies."

She started breathing again when she heard the door close behind.

She couldn't believe that Ashley had just accepted that Nicholas had slept over, and Nicholas had just put on his clothes and sat down with them for breakfast.

"Mom?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah," she said, remembering that it was a weekend, and Ashley would be home all day.

"Can we watch cartoons today?"

She smiled. "Of course." Then she remembers the letter from the day before. "But you'll have to read something to me first."

She found the letter and handed it to the little girl.

She heard paper ripping.

"What does it say?" She asked.

"It's a picture…" the little girl said. "Of three girls…"

* * *

"Excuse me. Do you know where Wally is?" Artemis asked a maid.

She had just seen him disappear outside with a blood sample from his grandmother.

The maid just pointed towards a big building.

When she stepped into the building it occurred to her that it was a garage, in two levels.

She looked around, and when there was a thump, she followed the sound and called out: "Wally?"

"No, it's his better half," Erik said as he rolled out from under a car, with a smile.

Artemis smiled awkwardly. "Do you know where Wally is?"

He nodded to a door down the end of the line of cars.

She found a door with the sign: _keep out! Laboratory_

It was locked.

She knocked.

The locked turned and Wally appeared in the door.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"No." He said short.

"Do you have any idea what's happening?" She asked, seeing just how bad he was.

He leaned in. "I think it has something to do with Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus Pit."

Artemis blinked in surprise.

"I'll need to try figure this out, I'll be in here for a while." Then he shot the door and locked it.

When she walked back towards Eric, she saw her sister handing him a drink.

After taking a sip, he looked at her sister.

"You can leave if you want…" he said.

"What if I don't want to?" She asked flirtingly.

He looked taken aback, then glanced at Artemis.

"Back so soon, my lady?" He asked with a smile.

Her sister glared at her with deadly eyes.

Then she left.

"Do you know her?" She asked.

"I don't know, I saw for the first time yesterday, I think, but she's been following me around the manor." He said with a smile. "Wally is working hard on a cure, right?"

She nodded.

"Yeah," he said and scratched his ear. "Wally can do things like this, the rest of us can just pretend to go on as normal…" Then he picked up a wrench from a toolbox.

"Is it yours?" She asked and nodded to the car.

"They are all mine," he said and gestured it to all the cars. "My little collection of classic cars and a few modern bikes."

"Really?" She asked amazed.

"You'd be surprised what you can get when you're in line for a title." He smiled again. "But I can't help my grandmother…"

Artemis looked towards the exit and was suddenly staring at the ten-year-old Sophie, staring daggers at her."

* * *

 **So ... tell me what think :)**

 **I'm already looking forward to the next chapter**


	72. Chapter 72

**I'm just going to say it now, I'm tired, I've written this chapter in the last two hours, it's not as long as I wanted, I wanted to reveal Ra's al Ghul secret, but I'm just too tired, I'll try to get a better start on the next chapter, so I won't have to do this again :)**

* * *

The girl just stared at her with odd hollow eyes.

"Umm," she started out. "Are you looking for something?"

"Give her back!" The voice was deep, and the girl's lips didn't move.

Artemis looked over her shoulder at Eric, who was watching them with interest.

She looked back at the girl. "What...?"

"Give her back! Turn grandmother back to normal!" The deep voice said as the little girl stepped closer.

Artemis mirrored the girl's movement, stepping back, a little creeped out. "I didn't do anything…"

"You Lie!" The voice said. "You turned her and will spirit her away!"

The girl slowly stepped closer, still looking at her with hollow eyes.

"Yeah, I'm gonna cut this off here," Erik said, stepping in between the two with crossed arms.

The girl didn't even blink but looked up at him with completely different eyes.

"Sophie … she's not a fairy." He started.

Sophie looked at Artemis. "But she looks like one."

Erik just lifted an eyebrow.

"She's too pretty to be a human." She continued.

Artemis looked from one to the other. Not understanding how she should feel about the last part.

"That's still no reason for you or Teddy to talk to her like that," Erik said and uncrossed his arms. When the little girl looked at the ground, he smiled at her. "Now what about you and Teddy go get some cookies from the kitchen?"

She just smiled and disappeared.

"Sorry about that…" He said awkwardly.

Artemis wasn't sure what expression to wear. "What was that about?"

Erik signed. "The fairy thing or the voice?"

"Both."

He signed again.

"Well … to make it simple … our grandmother has been telling us stories of the fairies and elven folk living forest and Sophie still believes in them." He explained as he walked towards the car he'd been working on.

"And she thinks I'm one?" Artemis asked and followed him with her eyes.

"Apparently," he smiled. "Take into account that we have been very sheltered, and we haven't been around … different ethnic groups … so to her, you are beautiful and different looking to her, therefore you must be a fairy."

"And the voice?" She asked.

Eric got into the car and opened the opposite door and patted on the passenger's seat. "Ventriloquism," he said, as she hesitatingly got in the car. "She has somehow learned to do it, and freaks people out by pretending it's her teddy bear talking." He turned the key and started the car.

The car shook made a clicking noise as he started driving out the garage.

"And why does she do that?"

Eric shrugged.

"I'm something not sure she's aware that that's what she's doing like she actually thinks it her teddy bear talking."

Artemis looked on as the garage door just opened for them automatically.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Just out for a drive." He smiled.

* * *

She pulled on the shirt and buttoned it up as far as it could go.

She was uncomfortable looking at her young body and tried to cover up as much as possible.

"Dear, I'm going to…" he stopped when he saw her fully dressed.

The door closed behind him.

"What are you doing out of bed?"

"I can't just lie around all day, that's not going to solve anything." She said.

"But you look like a teenager, you can't just walk around…"

She made a gesture with her hand. "I look just like Evangeline, no one would notice, well except for me wearing pants."

"Why can't you just stay in bed?" Her husband tried again.

"I need to find out what happened to me, Wally can't do it on his own.

"Fine." He said through his teeth. "Just stay away from the dining hall, I don't need Ra's al Ghul asking questions about this." Then he walked out.

She looked at the door for a bit. She couldn't remember the last time she had talked back to her husband.

* * *

There was another knock at the door.

If it was Artemis again…

He opened the door.

It was a maid.

"The baron would like you to come to lunch," she said and looked him up and down. "In clean clothing."

He signed. "I'll be there."

Then he closed the door and pulled his dirty lab coat off.

His grandmother's blood had an odd mutation, almost like its whole system had been reversed, and as far as he knew, only the Lazarus pit could do that.

Maybe he could think of a solution over lunch.

* * *

The phone rang.

She picked it up, while Ashley was watching cartoons.

"Did you get a letter?"

She was frozen and swallowed something.

"You too?" She asked.

"And Mila probably have gotten one too."

"It's the league, isn't it, Paula?"

"Yes, Silver." Her old friend said.

"They're coming for us, aren't they?" She whispered. Hoping Ashley didn't hear her.

"Yes … but it's not going to be easy for them." She could hear the bitter smile in Paula's voice.

* * *

As he tried to walk towards the Baron's dining room, he saw her.

She was young looking now, but he could tell it was her by her eyes.

She walked right up to him, thunder in her eyes.

"What did you do to me?" She asked.

He lifted an eyebrow amused.

"What are you applying I did?"

"You asked me if I wanted to get back the years of my unhappy marriage, and suddenly I'm a teenager! I'm not stupid, proud or greedy like my husband, and I don't what deal you've made with him, but I'm not going to stand for this, turn me back to normal right this moment."

The man just smiled at her amused.

"That deal?" He said. "Is absolutely meaningless…"

"What?" She said confused. "Then it is you who have done this to me?"

Suddenly a pain shot through her body. She collapsed on the floor, as the pain shot through her in waves.

She heard someone come running.

"Your granddaughter seems to be unwell." She heard before she passed out.

* * *

"Are we going to stay here until we hear something?" Zatanna asked

"There is nothing else we can do, and the matter is further complicated by Wally's family is implicated." Aqua lad said.

"And that's the most surprising thing about this." Rocket commented.

Robin signed frustrated. "There's nothing about Eric Branigan on here, this man has nothing shipping nowhere."

"Then what is it Ra's al Ghul wants?" Miss Martian asked.

"No idea," Robin said from his computer. "We haven't heard from him since yesterday, and he isn't answering his phone."

* * *

Wally dusted the dirt off his shirt.

He had kind of realized that he was hungry while walking to the dining room.

He turned the handled expecting to she Artemis, his cousin and grandparents…

But instead, his grandfather and Ra's al Ghul sat in there, waiting for him.

In an automatic motion he stepped in and closed the door behind him and looked around the room, hoping for someone else to be in there, there was no one but the three of them.

He cleared his throat, stunned and oddly fearful. "What is going on here?"

* * *

 **I hope you like it :)**

 **good night.**


	73. Chapter 73

**Thanks for the reviews I really needed that.**

 **anyways new chapter, enjoy.**

* * *

"Just a meeting, Wallace." His grandfather said and gestured to a chair. "Please sit down.

Wally sat down but eyed the two older men suspiciously.

"Shouldn't Eric be here then?" He asked.

His grandfather signed irritated. "He is not needed for this … your cousin has very little interest in these matters."

"But he's the next in line for your title," Wally said while watching Ra's al Ghul out of the corner of his eye.

This wasn't a conversation they needed to have in front of him…

"I'm thinking about giving the title to you instead." His grandfather said and smiled, clearly expecting him to be grateful.

"What?" Wally said.

"You're far more qualified, and Eric has no motivation." He explained.

Wally kept an eye on Ra's al Ghul, who watched them with interested.

Wally was blank, he didn't want to be a Baron or even move to England permanently…

"Is this the reason for the meeting." He asked instead.

"No, we're here to discuss our partnership." His grandfather said.

Wally looked at Ra's al Ghul, he had a strong feeling that this man was responsible for what had happened to his grandmother.

"And what does this partnership include?" Wally asked and leaned back in the chair. "shipping of some nonexistent cargo."

"Wallace." His grandfather warned.

"What? I looked into it, there is nothing there." He explained to his grandfather, then turned to Ra's al Ghul. "So what are you doing? What's the endgame here?"

"Wallace you are not going to insult our guest, with your…"

"Did you use the Lazarus' pits powers on my grandmother?" He asked, interrupting his grandfather.

His grandfather looked at Ra's al Ghul in shock.

"Wallace that's enough!" His grandfather warned.

"Indeed," Wally said and got up thankful for the out his grandfather had unknowingly giving her.

"I'm sorry that I have to apologize for his behavior again…" The Baron said while rubbing his forehead.

"Young minds can be frail at times," the man sitting across from said. "But what is it he thinks I did to his grandmother?" He asked with a smile.

The Baron looked at him nervously. "It's nothing to worry about, she's just unwell for the time being."

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much, my friend. Whatever ailment she has, these things usually pass in a few days." He said with an odd smile.

* * *

Eric drove down a country road.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked.

He smiled at her. "I'm not taking you anywhere, we're just going for a drive."

"But why?" She asked as the scenery flew by.

"This is how I think." He just said. "When I'm driving or hunting, I don't have to think about how I'm disappointing my grandfather, or not being what the rest of the world what me to be, or how I'm not able to help my grandmother…"

"Then … why take me with you?"

He smiled at her again. "Well, because at some level it irritates Wally, and you seemed kind of lost when you came out of his lab."

"I wasn't lost." She said.

He gave her look.

"Wally is kind of better than me at everything, at least where my grandfather concerned." He said as the road took a series of turns. "And … when my grandmother needs help, I can't do anything about it, but of course he can't."

"Artemis eyed him confused. She had no idea why he was talking about this to her.

"Are you angry at Wally for that?" She asked, hoping Erik wasn't trying to make Wally jealous or something.

He shook his head with a bitter smile. "No, me and Wally's relationship is … a little odd, but I don't hate him, just feel bad because I feel like my grandfather doesn't understand me."

She didn't know what to say.

"So how do you know my cousin?" He asked.

Artemis bit her lip. "We're … we're friends … or more like…"

"Lovers?" He finished her sentence for her.

"Yeah," she admitted.

Suddenly he signed. "Okay, let's get back."

He turned the car around and started driving back.

"Did I…"

"You didn't do anything." He said gently. "I need to clear my head and decided to take you along."

Artemis fidgeted.

"I'm sorry," Eric said and signed. "At least I got away from that maid."

Artemis glanced at him. "That maid … is my sister." She said, looking down.

He glanced at her.

"Really?" He asked. Then after a couple of seconds. "I thought, she looked familiar. She introduced herself to me the day we meet, didn't she?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Can you tell her to back off?" He asked. "I'm not interested."

* * *

"Sweetie, can you get mom Nico's number?" She asked Ashley.

She heard the girl get up from the floor and heard her walk out in the kitchen and come back.

"And can you press in into the phone for me?" She asked and gestured to phone.

She heard her type the number in.

"Can you go out and check the mail for me too?" She asked as she put the receiver to her ear.

"Kay." The girl sounded slightly agitated.

She knew that she was asking a lot of her, but she needed to be alone for a few minutes.

The phone went to voicemail, just like she had hoped.

"Nico? It's Silver … I know this I strange, but if you take Ashley home one day and … I'm not here, just take care of Ashley until I get back…"

* * *

"Sophie, wait up!" Evangeline yelled after her sister. "There is no reason to run."

"Grandmother is very sick, and Teddy says she is not going to get worse."

Evangeline couldn't keep up and slowed down to a fast walk, when she walked past their guest's room with the door cracked open and what she heard got her to stop and listen.

She leaned up against the door and listen closely to what he was talking about.

Her eyes grew big. The rest of them would want to hear this.

* * *

Wally was waiting for them, as they pulled into the garage.

"What is it?" Eric asked as he opened the car door, sounding alarmed.

"Grandmother is getting worse." He said.

"Let's go!" Eric said, and they ran towards the house. Artemis followed them.

"Did you find a cure?" Eric asked him when they had gotten into the house.

"No, it's odd. Apart from being the DNA of a teenager, there is nothing that can explain what wrong."

When they made it to the grandmother's room, their other cousins were already there, and their grandmother was lying in bed, clearly in pain and still young.

"What happened?" Eric asked.

"Grandfather said she was talking a walk but collapsed and has been like this ever since," Evangeline explained.

"And where is he now?" Wally asked.

"Attending to our guest." Evangeline snorted.

Wally gave her a funny look, wondering what she had seen or heard.

The little girl crawled up on the bed and lied next to the withering woman.

"Nana…" she said concerned.

The shacking woman put her arms around the little girl.

"Sorry…" She whispered.

"Shh…" Evangeline shushed her as she sat the edge of the bed. "None of this is your fault, or anyone's."

"He did…." She gasped before she could finish the sentence and threw her head back.

The door opened and both the Baron and Ra's al Ghul came in.

Eric pulled Sophie away, when their grandmother started thrashing, and suddenly … started rapidly aging while gasping and screaming in pain.

All the people in the room starred at her in stunned silence, as she continued to age for fifteen minutes.

She was back to normal and collapsed on the bed.

"What was that?" Artemis asked.

No one answered.

"You're back to normal again," Sophie said with glee and jumped onto the bed again.

Evangeline did the same thing, clasping her hands around the old woman's neck as she sat up in bed.

"What happened to you?" Eric asked.

She looked across the room at Ra's al Ghul. "Why don't you tell us?" She asked hoarsely.

"Wendy." He husband warned. "Ra's al Ghul has nothing to do with this."

"I don't believe that," Wally said and crossed his arms.

"Neither do I," Artemis whispered in agreement.

Wally's grandfather gave her the evil eye.

"I agree with that." Eric joined in.

The Baron made an aggressive hand gestured.

"I have had enough!" He yelled. "This man is helping us financially and all he askes in my help with shipping cargo, and to stand up for his cause..."

" _The serum does have flaws. Her mental state hasn't reverted back to the young adult stage, and from what I can see she's unstable and can revert back to normal anytime, just about 24 hours after the serum was administrated, uhm… she seemed rather distraught about it … No. He's not anything to worry about. When we pay him, he won't ask question. … but the children seem to be catching on to our plans and the Baroness too… Of course…_ "

It was Ra's al Ghul's voice, which filled the room.

Wally and the others slowly turned to Evangeline, who was holding up a phone.

* * *

 **That's it for today.**

 **I hope you like it.**

 **My exams start soon so I won't be able to update weekly for a while, but I'll update next week and this saga is almost over.**


	74. Chapter 74

**Sorry, it's a day late, but there was something I had to do. And I know it's a little longer than usual, but I think you'll forgive me ;)** **  
**

 **and now ... enjoy :)**

* * *

He slowly opened his eyes.

He could hear the birds outside, and he felt the sunshine through the curtains.

He turns his head to look out the window.

He was still tired and just wanted to wait for Sara to come and wake him up.

There was no clock in the room, so he had no idea what time it was, but Sara always came at…

The door creaked open.

… 8 o'clock…

He smiled.

Apart from the closer coming footsteps, there was silent.

That was a little strange.

He closed his eyes and lied as still as he could, listening.

The person walked around the bed and put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Victor, it's time to get up." A gentle voice said.

His eyes flew open.

"Nana?" he said confused and sat up. "Where's Sara?"

"I'll be standing in for your chambermaid," she said instead of answering.

He looked at her with skepticism, as she walked to the closet and opened it.

 _It's a relief that she's gone, but she could at least have said something instead of leaving in the middle of the night … now we're already late…_

The boy's eyes grew big.

Sara, his mother, had left?

He got out of bed in a zombie-like state and put out his arms, so Nana could start dressing him.

He had an odd feeling about this.

* * *

The room was silent as Evangeline slowly put the phone down.

Slowly everyone turned their head towards Ra's al Ghul and the Baron.

The old man went through a range of emotion before turning to Evangeline.

"You really shouldn't record people without their knowledge." He said, oddly calm.

The was a stunned silence.

"Are you kidding me!" Eric's voice rang through the room.

"Eric!" His grandfather scolded.

Ra's al Ghul looked amused.

And Artemis was just confused.

"Are you completely deaf!" Eric continued to yell.

"One more word out of you and…"

"Well, I guess I'll take over then." Wally suddenly angrily cut his grandfather off. "You have just heard that man…" he said slowly and pointed at Ra's al Ghul. "Refer to a condition that your wife has suffered under, and the only thing you can say is telling Evangeline she shouldn't record him!"

Artemis almost fell backwards in shock. She hadn't seen him get this angry before, not even when she had told him about his dad finding out about the acceptance letters.

"Is the money he can give you really that good?" He continued. "Then who's next! Eric? Evie? Me? Sophie?!" He took a step towards his grandfather. "I don't care what you think or want. Eric wants him out." He pointed at Ra's al Ghul again. "I want him out … grandmother wants him out. Nobody wants him here. Whatever money his paying, whatever he wants, get him out of here!"

Wally's temper only seemed to infuriate the Baron even more.

"That's enough!" He said loudly. "I'm the man of this household."

"Indeed…" his wife calmly said from the bed in a raspy voice. "I knew this man had ill intentions, and I could live with it if those intentions were only towards me and you were ignorant, but this is now concerning our grandchildren, and you are _not_ ignorant!" She stood up from the bed, but swayed slight. "So, I'm going to give you a choice, either he goes, or I go!"

The Baron looked taken aback like her leaving was a big problem.

"But people will talk if you do…" He said in his defense.

His wife didn't say a word but looked at him with narrowed eyes and folded arms, which almost caused her to fall backwards.

The old man almost pouted for a moment before turning to the other man.

Before he said anything, Ra's al Ghul smiled and said: "I understand your predicament and concern and will leave within the hour. I have gotten what I came here for."

Then he walked out. The Baron looked around the room and saw all the stern, disappointed eyes before he followed him out.

The grandmother sat down on the bed exhausted.

"Are you okay, grandmother?" Eric asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine my dear." The old woman smiled at them all when her eyes meet Wally's they almost glittered. "Why don't you children go prepare for tea?"

"Okay Nana," Sophie said and crawled off the bed.

"We'll see you later, you rest for now," Evangeline said.

She smiled as they left the room, then she picked up the phone next to the bed, and dialed a number she had never dialed before, but burned into her memory, since she saw it at the bottom of a letter.

"Hello, Mary?" She asked when a person on the other end picked it up.

* * *

He was waiting outside Ashley's school.

They were headed straight to the dance studio and then home to Silver for dinner.

He wasn't really sure where he stood with Silver, but she didn't seem like she was bothered by what was happening between them.

There were still a few minutes till school was out, so he started playing with his phone.

Then he saw Silver had left him a voicemail a few days ago.

He listened to it and his eyes grew big with confusion.

When Ashley finally came out from school, he already had a foot on the gas pedal.

"We're going to swing by your mom, before heading to the studio, I … forgot something."

Then he started speeding toward the house. Why would she leave him a voicemail like that? It worried him.

* * *

There was a knock on the door.

Artemis opened it to see her sister standing there, smiling widely at her.

"What are you doing here?" Artemis asked, returning the smile and pulling the door fully open, letting Wally see what was happened. "I thought, you'd leave with your master."

"Yeah… I think Eric and I might have something, so I'll stick around…" Her sister smiled sweetly.

Suddenly Wally busted out laughing.

Both girls looked at him with raised eyebrows.

And suddenly Eric walked by the door and stopped and stared at the scene.

Chesire smiling sweetly at him. "Yeah."

"Yeah," he returned politely, and then looked at Wally confused. "Why aren't you packing?"

"Packing?" Wally asked from his bed.

"Yeah, grandmother called aunt Mary, you and your girlfriend there are going back to America, I'm driving you to the airport in about an hour." He explained.

"Really?" He smiled and stood up.

"Well, not if you don't start packing." Eric smiled.

Suddenly Chesire turned to Eric, continuing to smile.

"Can I tag along?" She asked.

First Eric looked confused, then he shot her a mischievous grin. "Of course."

* * *

He opened the door, and Ashley walked past him inside.

There was no sound, or light, but that wasn't so odd.

But after Ashley had been in the house for about two minutes, there was still no sound.

"Nico?" Ashley called from the living room, as he stepped into the kitchen. "Mom's not here."

"Wait here for a second, I'll go find her." He said and turned on the lights.

He searched the entire house but couldn't find Silver anywhere.

She was gone.

* * *

Wally put the bag down as they meet the rest of his cousins and grandparents at the front door.

They'd come to see him off.

Eric took his bag. "I'll bring the car around." He said and went outside. Artemis' sister followed close behind.

Evangeline just wrapped her arms around him. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll be back during the summer," he reminded her.

She smiled and let him go. "It won't be the same." Then she looked at Artemis and just smiled.

Sophie held her teddy bear tightly against her chest. "Teddy says you have to stay, and the pretty fairy can even stay if she promises not to spirit me away."

Wally smiled. "Well, maybe you can tell Teddy that he as you and Evie and Eric to keep him company." Then picked her up.

She whispered something to Wally Artemis couldn't hear.

"Fairy?" Evangeline said and looked at Artemis with a smile.

Artemis smiled stiffly and shrugged, having no idea how to respond to that.

Evangeline put a hand up to cover her laughter while shaking her head.

"But it was nice to meet you." She said and gave her a sweet smile.

She really looked a lot like Wally. It concerned Artemis a bit.

Wally had put down Sophie and hugged his grandmother.

"Say hi to your mother from me," she whispered and let him go.

He nodded and smiled.

His grandfather stood and looked at him uncomfortably.

He saw his grandmother pull Artemis aside out of the corner of his eyes.

His grandfather didn't say anything but looked at him like he expected Wally to apologize or something.

But Wally just folded his arms. He was tired of this.

After what seemed like an inner struggle the old man finally signed. "Your grandmother was right."

Wally just looked at him, knowing what he was referring to.

"I put money over my family, I … but we needed the money, Wallace. The estate can survive…"

Wally shook his head. "Maybe not, and with the way you treat your family, it definitely can't."

The old man almost took a step back. "What?"

"You treat grandmother like she's a piece of furniture that the estate would look wrong without, you ignore Eric because he's not what you imagined he would be, you expect Evangeline and Sophie to just get over how brutally their parents were murder and act like perfect little girls, and you didn't take any interest in me before you knew just how intelligent I was!" He took a breath. "Instead of putting us down, maybe you should start seeing our potential."

Then he turned around.

"Come on Artemis," He said and walked towards the door. "Eric's waiting."

* * *

"So, you told him off?" Eric asked.

"More or less," Wally said as he texted Robin, letting him know that they were going home.

"So… Eric, what exactly do you do, when you're not driving fancy cars." Jade purred from the front seat beside Eric.

To Artemis' surprise, he answered.

"Well, I'm going to Oxford."

Artemis looked at them confused, then at Wally, who shrugged and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Don't worry about that, just wait and see." He whispered in her hear and then showed her the conversation with Robin on his phone.

Her sister continued to flirt with Eric during the entire drive to the airport. And he responded to her!

Artemis had no idea what was going, but Wally seemed to.

When they finally arrived at the airport, Eric pulled into the drop off zone, and Wally and Artemis got out of the car and pulled out the bags.

Jade stayed in the car smiling at Artemis confidently.

Suddenly another guy walked towards the car.

"Hey, Eric." He said as he walked closer and looked at the others confused. "Weird place to meet ask to meet you, don't you think?"

The guy was skinny with dirty blond hair and three or four piercings in his right ear and two in his nose.

"Yeah, but I had to drop off my cousins and his friends…" Eric said with a smile.

"Oh? That's good." Then the guy leaned over and kissed Eric on the lips.

Artemis was frozen in confusion, and apparently so was Jade, as Eric leaned into the kiss.

When they broke off the kiss. Eric just turned to Jade and looked at her, smiling. "Aren't you get out too?"

Almost automatically she opened the car door and got out.

The guy quickly took her place in the front seat.

She just stood there, looking at them.

Wally pulled at Artemis, and they began walking into the airport.

She could feel Wally shaking beside her and looked up to see him struggling to hold back his laughter.

* * *

"But he was flirting with me." She insisted.

"More like he was irritating me." He countered with a smug smile.

Artemis gave him an irritated look.

Wally raised an eyebrow. "I didn't spend to entire flight explaining my cousin to you so that you'd think I was making a joke."

Artemis signed. "Well, at least we're home."

"Yeah, back to math and physics te…" Wally began but suddenly stopped like he remembered something.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Well…" he seemed perplexed. "I just remembered Lia … that's all."

Artemis blinked.

Come to think of it, she still hadn't told him about Lia being in the League of Assassins.

"Yeah, Wally?" She said.

He looked at her.

"About Lia…"

Suddenly something collided with Wally with such a force that it almost knocked him over.

"You're back!" She said, excited.

"Lia?" He said confused. "How did you know I was going back?"

"Oh, instinct I guess." She smiled, after letting him go. After he gave her a knowing look, she shrugged. "Okay, your mom told me, but…"

As they talked, she looked at Artemis and smiled, like Lia knew what she had been about to say when she had run into Wally.

Artemis signed silently. She wouldn't be able to tell him this time either.

* * *

She signed as she walked into the apartment building and started up the stairs.

Wally and Lia had gone home together, while she had taken a bus home.

Lia was the final nail, she was completely beat now.

She had known about her for a long time now but still hadn't told Wally. Would he even believe her?

She signed again and started going down the hall.

Right now, she didn't want to think about that. She just wanted to get some dinner, listen to her mom chatting away, and go to bed.

The door creaked as she pushed it open.

"Hey mom, I'm … home?"

The apartment was completely dark.

She stepped into the apartment and turned on the light.

There in the middle of the room stood her mom's wheelchair in an upright position facing the door

* * *

 **Hope you like it.**

 **My exams start next week and last until February, so I won't be updating until then.**

 **See you in 1½ month (more or less) :)**


	75. Chapter 75

**I'm back again.**

 **Sorry, it took so long, my world had some problems.**

 **But I have over 50.000 views now :) Thanks for reading and following my story guys, it means a lot to me.**

 **Now on to the story.**

* * *

She was just sitting on her bed with her computer.

The door clicked opened. And she looked up.

"Don't come in without knocking." She said and turned back to the computer.

Her dad knocked on the open door with a smug look.

She glanced up at him, not amused. "What do you want?"

"It's time."

"Dinner time?" She asked with her eyes on the screen.

"Time to show your worth, kid. You'll get what you want if you do good this time."

She stopped and looked at him.

Just do good this time, and she would have what she wanted?

She looked at the physics project her and Wally were working on to make up for the time both had missed recently. Then she smiled and closed the computer.

"What do I need to do?"

* * *

Artemis took a step further into the apartment.

"Mom?" She called out.

There was silent.

"Mom!" She called again and peered into her mom's bedroom, there was nothing there.

The apartment was completely quiet, but nothing was disturbed. And for some reason, it terrified her.

As she looked in her room and the bathroom, she got more and more panicked.

And after checking that there wasn't anyone there, she ran into out in the hallway and knocked on the first door she saw.

After a few knocks, David opened the door.

"What the …" he stopped in the middle of an angry sentence when he saw it was Artemis. "Artemis, you're home again?" He continued in a friendly tone. When Artemis just huffed and looked at him with scared eyes. "What's wrong?"

"My mom … she's gone…"

David looked at her confused. "What do you, did she go out?"

"No … her wheelchair is there…"

David looked behind her. Like he was trying to see if there was anyone behind her.

He looked at the panicked teenager and took a step to the side.

"Come inside." He said.

Artemis walked by him and into the small apartment which mirrored her own.

"Have you had anything to eat?" David asked as he closed the door.

She just shook her head.

"There's some food in the kitchen." He said and guided her to a chair.

He went into the kitchen and came back with a plate of food and gave it to her.

She took it.

"When did you come back?" He asked.

"Just now…"

It almost made him uncomfortable how rattled she seemed. What could have happened to her mother?

"And when did you last talk to your mom?"

Usually, when Miss Paula went out, he could clearly hear her rolling through the hallway. But he hadn't heard anything at all. But who would hurt a middle-aged wheelchair-bound woman? And Why?

She shook her head. "I don't remember."

She just looked at the plate of untouched food.

David signed.

He had to figure this out.

He put a hand on Artemis' shoulder. "Look … why don't you stay here tonight? If she's not home by tomorrow we'll call the police, okay?"

Artemis looked up at him and nodded.

* * *

Wally stepped into the house and put down his things.

"I'm home." He said.

His mom came out from the kitchen and opened her arms. He walked into the hugged.

His mother signed relieved. "I'm so glad you're home." She whispered.

He smiled.

After a few minutes, they let go of one another.

"Come on, dinner is ready."

In the kitchen sat his dad, he didn't say a word.

Wally sat down and looked at him.

The was silent, while they put food on their plates and ate for a little while.

"Were your grandparents doing well?" his mother asked.

"Yeah, grandmother was doing really well this time." He smiled at his mother and then went back to glaring at his dad.

Then his dad finally spoke.

"I hope you learned something from this."

"You mean, that you'll send me to boarding school if I don't do what you want me to?"

"Wally!..." his dad warned.

"That's what you did!" Wally sneered. "Why in the world is it such a problem that I'm smart and I want to use my brains my way?"

"Wally…" his mother said, trying to calm him down.

"You're a teenager, you don't know what's best for you yet." His dad said calmly, but harsh.

"I'm smarter than you!"

"Wally!" His mother scolded.

"It's true." He just said.

"That's enough." His dad said. "Go to your room!"

Wally was out of the kitchen and up the stairs in two seconds. He went into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

He sat down on his bed and signed.

That did not go very well all he wanted was an apology from his dad, but after this … he clearly wasn't getting one.

Suddenly his phone buzzed.

It was a message from Lia.

 _Won't be at school for a while, call you later ;)_

He lifted an eyebrow and texted her back.

 _Why?_

Just after he pressed send, the phone started ringing.

It was Artemis.

"Yeah, babe?" He said as he answered the phone.

"She's gone…" was all she said in a trembling whisper.

"What?" He said. He could barely hear her.

"My mom … she's gone…" She repeated.

"Gone, what do you mean?" He asked.

"She wasn't there when I got home, but her wheelchair was…" Artemis spoke fast.

"But that's impossible, she can't walk." Wally said.

"I have a really bad feeling about this, Wally. I think someone took her."

Wally had never heard Artemis be so scared before.

"Where are you now?" He asked concerned.

"At my neighbor's place. He let me stay for the night…" She whispered. "Wally … what should I do?"

He was about to say something, but then stopped himself. "I don't know Arts, I don't know … I'll come tomorrow as soon as I can, and we'll figure this out."

He heard Artemis take a deep breath. "Okay … I'll talk to you tomorrow…"

"See you tomorrow…" he said, and she hung up the phone.

He laid back on the bed.

This evening was really going to hell.

* * *

She felt very heavy and opened her eyes slowly.

Her head hurt.

She heard someone groaning and moaning beside her.

"Hello, is someone there?"

She recognized the voice and slowly turned her head.

"Silver?" She said surprised and blinked a few times to focus her eyes.

The woman with bandages wrapped around her head seemed to peak up.

"Paula?" She asked.

"Yeah…" she groaned.

"Where are we?" Silver asked she seemed to be in the same state as herself.

"Not sure…" Paula said and tried to wipe her eyes, only to find that her hands were bound to chair. Then she turned to her other side. "But we're not alone…"

"Who else?" Silver asked and seemed to try and get up from her chair, but she was bound to it as well.

"Mila," Paula said.

Silver seemed to wake from haze instantly. "This is bad."

"Mila!" Paula repeated, a little louder this time, trying to wake her. "Mila! Wake up!"

The other woman, still dressed in a maid uniform, slowly opened her eyes and looked at the two of them with clear eyes.

"Paula? Silver? What are you doing here?" Before they could say anything, she looked down at her bound hands. "What am I do here?"

"I can answer that for you, my dear."

Almost in unisons the three women looked to the source of the smooth voice in front of them.

The man stood in the shadows, but they recognized the voice.

* * *

"Is it stable?" The woman asked, looking at the vials.

"It better be, or we're dead." The man said.

"Shame we could only do one test, that English family would have been perfect…" the woman trailed off.

"Is it done?"

Both of them jumped at the monotone voice, that accompanied the figure clad in black from head to toe.

"Ye… yes…" the man stuttered.

The figure leaned in between them to look at the screen behind the vials.

She seemed to read the formula and then pointed to the screen.

"If you replace this component with this … one…" she said and wrote down something on a piece of paper and showed it to them. "It should be more stable."

The woman looked at the figure, puzzled. It was clearly a female and judging by the height, not even adult. To think that children worked for that man and knew of these complex formulas…

The girl shadow turned on her heel and walked towards the door.

The woman turned to her partner and looked at what the girl had written. It was worth a try and seemed sound for the moment.

"These shadows creep me out." She whispered under her breath.

"Hey!" The shadow said as she stopped in the doorway and turned to the woman. "I have a name you know. It's Lia"

* * *

 **So ... tell me what you think.**

 **I'll upload weekly again if I can, but I will try my best to do so.**

 **Hope you like it :)**


	76. Chapter 76

**I've had a long day.**

 **But somehow you get a chapter.**

 **It's not very long, but I hope you like it.**

* * *

"Master…" Mila voice had a tint of longing in it.

Paula just stared at the man, who stepped out of the shadows.

Silver just sat motionless and listened.

Ra's al Ghul smiled gently at them.

"I have need of you again." He said.

The three women looked at each other.

"Is he aware of…" Silver began.

"He is," Mila said, as her eyes changed color.

Ra's al Ghul looked at them amused. Knowing that they were referring to them being in there 40's and both Silver and Paula had handicaps now.

Mila's eyes grew big as she stared at her former master.

Paula saw it instantly.

"What?" She asked.

"How's that even possible?" Mila said in disbelieve.

"What's happening?" Silver asked confused.

"I'm not sure," Paula said, just as confused.

Ra's al Ghul hadn't stopped smiling.

"I have found a way to reverse what time has done to you." He said.

"Reverse?" Paula repeated.

"You mean…?" Silver started but was cut off by Ra's al Ghul.

"You'll be young again and whole…" Ra's al Ghul said and took hold of Silver's chin and tilted her head upwards towards his.

"But why us?" Paula asked.

Their former master let go of Silver as he smiled at Paula. "Why not? As far as assassins go you three were the best I had, and the most loyal…"

"We gave up that life a long time ago," Silver said. "And I have no intention of returning."

"I'm in." It came quite suddenly from Mila.

The other two turned their head to her in shock.

"What?" Paula said.

She looked at them with a dangerous glint in her eye. "Well I don't know about you, but I could kill some people right about now."

"Thanks for helping me get groceries," David said as they walked towards the building.

"Sure," Artemis said.

He smiled at her. "You seem a little better."

She just kind of nodded.

"Are you sure we shouldn't call the police?"

She nodded. "Trust me, that's not something you want to do when it concerns my parents."

He huffed. "Yeah, I remember seeing those two when I was young. They were terrifying."

Artemis made a little smile.

When they came to there building Wally was waiting.

"Wally?" She asked confused.

He smiled at her and glanced at David. "Are you okay?"

"She shook her head. "Kind of … I don't know … she's still not home…"

Wally put an arm around her.

"How about we look in your apartment and try to figure something out." He said.

She nodded.

"Well before you two start playing detectives, would you mind helping me up with the groceries?" David asked.

"Oh, Sure," Wally said and took the bags from Artemis.

* * *

As they opened the door to the apartment, Wally looked at her.

"I filled Robin in on the situation, they should be waiting in the cave." He explained.

Artemis nodded.

"I just think something bad has happened," Artemis said, as they started searching the apartment.

"Did she do anything…" Wally couldn't find the right word.

Artemis shook her head. "She would sleep in recently, and she would either call someone or get a call late at night."

Wally shook his head lightly. He couldn't make sense of that, maybe they could see a phone number?

He went to the phone and noticed a picture beside it.

"What's this?" He asked and picked it up.

"What's what?" Artemis asked from her mom's bedroom, she was looking through the jewelry box.

Wally showed her the picture and she momentarily froze.

"That's my mom and … aunty Silver … and…"

"That's the maid we met in Vlatava." Wally finished.

"But they look so young…" she said.

Wally turned the picture over. "Looking forward to see you all at the reunion," he read aloud and looked at Artemis. "That means…"

Artemis' eyes were big. "The League of Shadows."

"Let's try to talk to the other women in this picture and then try to figure out what happened."

"If the League of Shadows hasn't gotten to them yet too," Artemis said, worried.

* * *

Robin looked down at his phone.

"Wally sent an update." He said and the others perked up. "This is bad … they think Artemis' mom got kidnapped by the League of Shadows…"

"What are we going to do?" Zatanna asked.

"Well, they are going to see someone who might know something but wants us to look into where she could be." Robin read from his phone.

Rocket crossed her arms. "Am I the only one thinking that Lia girl has something to do with this?"

There was silence for a few seconds.

"She has a point," Connor said.

Kaldur signed. "Maybe we should check up on her since we know she has something to do with the League of Shadows."

Rocket seemed to like that. "I volunteer."

* * *

Artemis knocked on the door. "Madam Markent?" He said loudly.

"Aunty Silver?" Artemis tried.

No response.

Artemis bit her lip and knocked on the door even harder. "Aunty! Are you in there?"

Still nothing.

"Hey! What are you doing?" It came from behind them.

They both turned around and saw a slenderly build man with dark hair at the mailbox.

"We're looking for the woman who lives here, she's a friend of my mom's," Artemis explained.

The man's hard look soften a little. "A friend?" He said as he walked towards them. "Does she have any idea where Silver went?"

Wally and Artemis looked at each other.

"Is Silver missing?" Wally asked.

The man signed. "Yes."

Artemis breathed. "My mom's missing too, I thought Silver might know."

"Really?" The man seemed confused.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Wally asked.

"Oh," he seemed taken aback. "I'm Nicholas … a friend … of Silver…"

"How long has she been missing?" Wally asked.

"A few days. I'm taken care of Ashley for the moment, and I have contacted the police … but Ashley seems to think this picture has something to do with this." He said and pulled a picture out of his pocket and showed it to them.

Artemis swallowed a lump.

It was the same picture her mom had gotten.

* * *

 **Please tell me what you think.**

 **Sorry it's a little late.**


	77. Chapter 77

**I feel quite lazy today.**

 **But somehow you still get a chapter.**

* * *

She slipped into the room.

Luckily a new maid had not been found.

The count had asked her to look through Sara's stuff. He didn't believe that she just left.

He could be so child-like sometimes…

The room was neat, but the bed was messy like someone slept there.

The receiver of the old-fashioned phone was hanging from the dresser it stood on.

She put the receiver back in its place and saw a photo on the ground beside the dresser.

Rozalina picked it up.

It was a picture of three young women. She recognized Sara as one of them, but not the other two.

She flipped over the photo.

Something was written on the back, but it was a language she couldn't read.

There as one line written at the bottom in fine handwritten and another line at the top written in a rough, crude handwriting.

She looked at it with a puzzled expression and then put it in her pocket.

She could give it to the count later when the head maid wasn't peering over his shoulder.

* * *

The man seemed to pick up on the horror in Artemis' face.

"What's the matter?"

Wally put a hand on her shoulder.

She looked at him and then shook her head.

"It's nothing I've … just seen that picture at my mom's house…"

The man clearly didn't believe her.

"Did your mom have some sort of reunion coming up?" He asked.

"What?" She asked.

"it's what it says on the back on the picture." He said turned the picture over.

"Oh … I…" she stuttered, trying to think of something.

"I'm thinking of calling the police," the man suddenly said.

"What?" Wally and Artemis asked in unison.

"Not on you two," he assured them. "But if both her and your mom is missing then…"

Artemis and Wally looked at each other.

They knew they probably couldn't convince him not to, but what should they do then?

"Do that, I'm sure they'll figure this out," Wally said.

Artemis gave him a puzzled look, which he returned with a stiff nod.

The man gave them a funny look. "Okay, then … I'll go do that…"

Then he turned around and left.

"Why did you say that!" Artemis whispered to Wally as they too turned around and walked away from the house.

"Well, it would be weird not to call the police in a situation like this, wouldn't it?" He said with a knowing smile.

She blinked, then gritted her teeth. It seemed like Wally was always ahead of the situation.

"Then … what now?" She asked irritated.

"Well…" he said. "The last person in the picture is the maid from Vlatava, Sara I think her name was."

"Shouldn't we go back to the cave and see what the others have found?" She asked.

"Sure, we can figure out how to call the count on the way," Wally said.

There was silent for a bit.

"I don't think she's there, the maid I mean" Artemis then asked.

Wally shrugged. "Probably not, but we should check just to be sure."

"I wonder what Ra's al Ghul wants with them." She said crossing her arms deep in thought.

Wally shrugged again. "You know your mom better than I do, would there be anythi…"

"Even if there was, my mom is in a wheelchair what could she possibly do for the League of shadows?"

"You've got a point, let's get back to the cave." He said and picked her up and started running, while she tried to protest.

* * *

He took a deep breath, he was quite content at the moment.

He looked at the sky. It was time to return.

He then turned his horse around and rode back to the mansion.

He was greeted by a stableboy who took hold of the reins and let him get off.

The stableboy nodded to him, knowing what to do. And the young, blond boy went inside his mansion.

He stepped lightly, knowing he wasn't even supposed to have left his room, and his teacher was probably looking for him.

"Victor!" He suddenly heard from behind.

He turned around with an innocent smile. "Nana? What is it."

Then the old woman pointed at the floor with a stern expression.

A path of muddy prints from his riding booths ran down the hall he had just come from.

"Look at you, you're dirty," she said and examined his face. "You'll need a bath."

* * *

"Nothing?"

"Absolutely nothing," Robin affirmed.

"Then what do we do now?" Zatanna asked.

Artemis stared at the screen.

"We can't do anything…" Kaldor said and looked at Wally. "Any luck contacting the last woman."

"Not yet," he said with a cellphone to his ear. "give me a second."

Artemis tried to think of something, anything that could help.

But her mother was very secretive about her life with the League of shadow. She had even kept the whole thing with that necklace from Vlatava from her, and after Artemis had taken it, her mother had told her that the jewelry box didn't have ordinary jewelry … in … it…

It suddenly hit her that there had been a bracelet missing from the box. Could her mother have…

"If my mom was wearing a tracker, how would you track her?" She asked.

"A tracker?" Robin repeated confused. "Well, we would have to have its frequency … then we can find it but…"

She made an angry gesture.

For a second, she thought she might have…

Her train of thought was caught off by a loud bibbing.

"What's that?" Superboy asked.

Robin typed something on a computer. "A tracker has been connected to the computer…"

* * *

He heard a distant mumble and pulled his head out from under the water.

"Rozalina?" He gasped. "What is the matter?"

"There's a man on the phone asking about your balance?" The maid seemed confused.

He knew exactly who it was.

"Get me a towel." He said and stood up.

Rozalina handed it to him and turned around, knowing that if she tried to help him, he would get mad.

He got up of the bath and walked to a telephone and picked up. "Hello?"

Rozalina turned around again and took a few steps closer trying to listen in on the conversation.

The blond boy listened for a bit.

"Sara?" He said confused. "According to the head maid she left without a word a few days ago."

He looked deep in thought.

"A picture?" He suddenly questioned. "I don't kno…"

Rozalina's eyes widen and she stepped closer and pulled the photo out of her pocket showing it to the count.

He looked at her puzzled, then at the photo in her hand.

"Yes, there's a photo … yes … yeah, let me see…"

He took the photo out of her hand and flipped it over.

"Yeah … but there's something else written there as well." He said into the phone and read the message aloud. "Don't wait for me…?"

* * *

She tried to get her arm loose.

"What are you doing?" It came from Silver.

"Trying to get my hand free." She explained and continued to twist her wrists out of the ropes.

"Even if you did, what are you going to do? Your wheelchair bound can't just get up and walk away." Mila said from her other side.

"At least she's tryi …wait you're wheelchair bound, Paula? Since when?" Silver asked

"8 years ago? When I went to prison." Paula explained and turned her wrist slowly and the bracelet activated.

She really hoped that the Justice League hadn't updated their computers in Mount Justice too much…

Mila glanced at her. "You two really don't want to go back to the way things were before you had kids?"

Silver signed. "Of course, it would be nice. We are assassins after all, we've been trained to kill and the urge still lingers, at least for me. But…"

Before she could finish the sound of a door opening rang through the room.

"My dears, the time has come." Their former master said as he came into the room, followed by a shadow with three syringes on a silver tray.

"I don't like this." Silver's voice was just a whisper.

"Don't worry my dear," Ra's al Ghul said gently. "It will hurt, but the results will be splendid."

"Even if this somehow works, do you think we'll be the same as before our injuries?" Paula asked.

"I have already taken care of that my dear if all goes well, it'll be like it once was." He said and looked at the shadow. "Shall we begin?"

The shadow nodded and put the tray down on a small table and picked up one of the syringes.

The shadow then walked over to Mila and injected her with its content.

"You're planning on turning us younger, by giving us injections?" Paula asked.

Shadow just walked towards her and gave her an injection, despite her protests.

"Are you two okay?" Silver asked and moved her head from side to side.

"I think so," Paula said not feeling any different.

The shadow gave Silver the final injection.

"What is going on?" Silver asked.

"Does it take a while to take effect…?" Mila asked.

Suddenly she started convulsion.

Paula looked at her concerned, but before she could say anything she started shaking too.

Silver heard them and felt a burning sensation running through her body.

"Now we just wait for the results." Ra's al Ghul said with a smile.

"Yes, Master." The young woman smiled under her mask, as she looked at the former assassins convulsing in pain.

* * *

 **Please tell me what you think.**

 **Next chapter I'll start clearing up some loose ends**

 **Hope to see you next week.**


	78. Chapter 78

**Sorry, I'm a day late, but I had some school work to do.**

 **But here is a chapter.**

* * *

Robin typed something on the computer.

The screen showed a map and zoomed in on a building in Gotham.

"Do you think it's her?" M'gann asked.

"Well, if it's not. It's pretty convenient that it showed up right when you mentioned it." Wally said and looked at Artemis.

"Then we should go take a look, right?" Rocket said and crossed her arms.

Artemis nodded. "But…"

"What is it?" Wally asked.

"Well…" she started fidgeting, then shook her head. "No, it's nothing."

"Then let's go." Zatanna smiled.

* * *

Her eyes blinked rapidly as she woke up.

Where was she?

She rubbed her eyes.

And why did she have such an awful headache?

The bracelet on her arm caught her eye. Why was she that? And why was it activated?

"Huntress, come." She heard the command and got up.

She looked down at her wrist and took off the bracelet and threw it into the corner of the small room.

She didn't like being tracked, by anyone.

* * *

Jade signed irritated when she saw what Artemis had done to their bedroom.

She almost forgot what she was, therefore.

She went to her mom's bedroom and roam through the jewelry box, she saw on the table.

The necklace wasn't there.

She grimaced. She was told that that stupid necklace would be in her mom's old jewelry box.

Of course, her dad could have sold it, or something.

She shook her head. Her dad was too stupid to do that.

Well… she thought as she stepped back into the living room the front door swung open.

"Jade?" The guy said surprised.

"David?" She said in return.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

Man, he looked good. She didn't even try to hide her smile. She could get some fun out of this if nothing else.

"Artemis called me…" She said.

"Oh yeah?" He leaned his head to the side. "She didn't say anything about that…"

She smiled. "Well, I didn't tell her I was coming…"

He seemed to accept that. "So, have you found anything."

She shook her head.

"Well, what to come have some coffee with me?"

Her smile widened. "Sure."

* * *

He put a coffee cup down in front of her.

"Where's your dad?" She asked.

"Old man died a few a few years ago." He said.

Then there was silent for a bit

"Was there something you were looking for in the apartment?" He asked and sipped his coffee.

"Well … there is some of her jewelry missing…" Jade replied with a smiled and leaned forward.

"Really, Artemis didn't…"

"Enough about Artemis," she said in a low voice and stood up. "Or about my mom. How about we have some fun?" She slowly stepped towards him.

He seemed a little taken aback. "Fun?"

She hooked her arms around his neck and leaned down. "I always thought you were hot, so … how about it?" She then licked his cheek.

"I…" he began. Then when he heard the click of the door open.

He gave her a hard push and she stumbled backwards until she fell down on the couch.

The door opened and a petite brunette stepped in. "Hey David, I stopped by the store to see if there was anything cheap and…" She stopped and looked at the woman on the couch a little puzzled. "I'm sorry, have we meet?" She asked and closed the door.

"She's Paula's daughter, Jade," David explained.

"Oh, yes … you mentioned Artemis had a sister … have they found Paula yet?" The brunette spoke and took some bag into the kitchen.

"No…" David said.

He saw Jade's confused look, and when the brunette came into the room again and leaned against him, he smiled. "This is my fiancé, Anika."

Jade didn't say anything.

"Where's our little princess?" Anika said and kissed David on the cheek.

"Sleeping."

"Princess?" Jade just completely stunned.

"You didn't show her off?" The brunette asked smiling down at David.

"I thought it was better to let her sleep." He smiled.

He was engaged and … had … a … child?

She collected herself. "Uhm. I have work now…" Then she left.

When she got outside, she was so angry she could push something.

She gritted her teeth. Now that she didn't find that necklace, there was only one thing she could do.

She took out her phone and pressed a number. "Master, I didn't get what you needed." Then she listened to his response and nodded. "Yes, I will begin now."

* * *

He looked a little skeptically at the guestroom door.

Ashley had been quiet since they got home.

He had tried to keep her busy since her mother disappeared, but he had no idea how to take care of a little girl.

He knocked on the door.

"Ashley?" He asked through the door when he didn't get a response.

She still didn't respond.

"I'm coming in…" he said and slowly opened her door.

The room inside was empty and the window was open.

It was not good.

* * *

"This is the place?" Zatanna asked leaned her head to one side.

"The tracker is somewhere in here?" Robin said, looking at his monitor.

"Well, it looks inconspicuous enough." Kid Flash said and looked up at the abandoned warehouse.

"There is someone in there," Superboy said as he stared at the building.

"Let's go in," Artemis said.

Rocket shut a ray of light at the door and created an opening.

They stepped into the warehouse full of smoke from Rocket's attack.

"Young heroes? I did not expect you." They looked up at Ra's al Ghul, who was leaning over the railing of a suspended pathway looking at them with a shadow at his side.

Artemis had a pretty good idea of who that shadow was.

Ra's al Ghul pushed away from the railing with a smile on his face. "But I do suppose this is a great opportunity to test them." Then he looked straight down. "My dears?" He seemed to call.

"Yes, Master?" Three voices said in unison somewhere in the smoke.

"Destroy them." He said and look at the young heroes with an evil smile.

"Yes, Master." The three voices repeated, and three figures appeared from the smoke.

* * *

 **Please tell me what you think.**

 **It has actually been over 2 years since I started this fanfic.**

 **See you.**


	79. Chapter 79

**Sorry, I'm a day late again.**

 **I'm not good with fight scenes, as you will come to see.**

 **which makes me ask the question: if you have to choose would you rather have a good chapter not on time, or a not so good chapter on time?**

 **Anyway here's your chapter.**

* * *

Artemis froze as the three women stepped out of the smoke.

They looked exactly like they did in the photograph, right down to the costumes.

"Mom?" She just said the first thing that came to mind.

The three women each gave her a confused look and then glance at each other, as to find out what she meant, or who she was talking to.

A second went by without any sound or movement when the three young women launched forward.

"Mom?" Artemis tried again suddenly had a short sword in her and came towards her. Artemis just managed to block her with her bow.

Her mom, or rather the younger version of her mom, smiled evilly at her. "Your mommy not going to save you."

Artemis blinked. She looked and sounded a lot like Jade.

She managed to push her back.

"What do we do?" She asked and turned to look over her shoulder at the others.

But then an arrow flew by her and grazed her neck.

* * *

"This seems fun, can we join?"

Ra's al Ghul glanced at him. "No, these dear girls need to be tested to see if they are stabled."

Red X just shrugged and leaned in close to the shadow standing next to Ra's al Ghul

"Is this my favorite girl shadow?" He smiled.

The shadow signed and shrugged the hand off, he had put her shoulder. But he recognized the voice.

"Master."

They were interrupted by Cheshire.

She kneeled down in front of him. "I apologize again from not getting the necklace, I was so sure it was in my mom's possession."

Ra's al Ghul doesn't take his eyes of the fight below. "It is fine my dear. Did you get the other things I asked for?"

"Yes, master. It is taken care of."

"What has…" Red X suddenly doubled over and removed this mask.

The shadow stepped aside and cringed at the blood coming out of his mouth.

"Disgusting…" she just said, as he stood up straight again and whipped the blood off his mouth.

"Yeah I know," he said. "But it's not like I can turn it off."

* * *

Kid Flash managed just stepped out of the way when the white-haired woman tried to stab him with a Japanese style sword. But she still managed to graze him, rip his costume and draw blood.

"I don't want to hurt you." He said and held his hands up in defeat.

"Funny." She smiled and whipped her sword with her hands and whipped the blood over her eyes. "Because, I really want to hurt you, a lot."

He tried to move out of the way, but the girl seemed to predict his moves.

Suddenly Rocket just flew past him.

"Are you okay?" Zatanna yelled after her.

"No! Watch out!"

Zatanna managed to duck before a curved sword flung through the air, where her head had been just moments before.

Aqua lad stepped towards to attack the third girl, who had just thrown the sword at Zatanna, but she almost seemed to dance out of his way while holding on to another curved sword.

"Hate to quote Artemis, but what do we do?" Zatanna asked.

"We have to knock them down." It came from Robin.

"Okay…" Kid Flash said as the sword grazed his skin again. "Consider it done."

"Silver move!" The dancing girl yelled, and the white-haired girl suddenly jumped into the air and a force field surrounded Kid Flash

"What the…?" He started and looked at Rocket, who had her hands stretched in his direction.

"Sorry, I tried to capture _her_ , but she moved."

She … it suddenly came to him that the girl who seemed to fight and dance at the same time could read minds of course…

"Artemis…" He started.

She turned to him and was hit by an arrow in her leg and side. She fell down in pain.

"Never take your eyes of the enemy." Her mother said with an evil grin and stepped over her body.

Suddenly Superboy barreled into Artemis' mom.

"Mom!" Artemis called out again, as the younger version of her mom was hurled through the air, into a wall.

"I know you've said that like three time now." The woman said and stood up, "Do you think I'm your mom or something?"

When she stood up, she stumbled for a bit, like she couldn't keep her balance.

"That's it." Kid Flash exclaimed as he continued to try and evade the white-haired girl. "We need to take them down now be any means."

Knowing what to do now. He moved away and Rocket shut a small beam at her, knocking her floor.

While the dancing girl swiped at Robin, she bent down and picked up the other sword she had thrown earlier.

Zatanna and Aqualad locked eyes and they both looked down at the dancing woman's bare feet.

Aqualad approached her again, as Miss Martian read their minds and moved out of the way.

The dancing woman looked at Aqualad and smiled. "I like them big and strong."

Zatanna mumbled something and a water puddle appeared under the girl's feet.

Aqua lad knocked his water-bearers into the floor and an electric current ran through the water, knocking the girl out.

"Silver, are you okay?" Artemis' mom said as she continued to stumble, before finally finding her balance.

The white-haired girl started coming to again.

"I don't know, my eyes feel kind of funny." She said. "What about you, Mila?"

Aqualad, Zatanna and Miss Martian looked stunned at the girl. She had barely been down a minute.

"I feel fine, given the circumstance…" She said and got up. "But now I'm mad."

* * *

"They look fired up." The shadow beside him commented.

"One of their assets is the pride they carry, getting beat only gets them more determined." Ra's al Ghul smiled.

"Master, what are you going to do with those two?" She asked.

"I have many plans, you'll see my dear."

The shadow just huffed and shrugged and smiled at the sight of Artemis being beat by Huntress.

* * *

"So why are you calling me mom?" Her mom asked as she leaned over Artemis.

"Because you are my mom…" Artemis gasped as her mother pointed a crossbow at her face.

"What are you some kind of freak? I'm like seventeen, how would had even happened?" Huntress said pulled the trigger on the crossbow when she was suddenly pushed back.

"Are you okay?" Kid Flash asked and helped her up.

"No," she said and stumbled a bit as she stood up. "What happened to…"

"Robin trying not to die." He smiled bitterly at her.

Artemis shook her head. "I don't know what to do, I can't get through to her."

"I think I have a plan." He said and blocked Huntress by taking hold of her arm.

"Get over to the girl with those two curved blades…" he said and took hold of Huntress' other arm.

"And what?" She asked.

"Think." He just said over his shoulder.

"About what?"

Kid Flash was too busy to answer.

Artemis almost growled and picked up the bow while crossing the floor.

The white-haired girl was giving Robin, Zatanna and Superboy a hard time.

These three assassins really were amazing fighters.

She shot an arrow towards the dancing girl, who swung those swords at the Aqualad and Rocket.

She suddenly swung around and cut the arrow in half.

What was she supposed to do anyway? Think?

She almost hit herself in the head, she felt so dumb.

If she remembered correctly. The count from Vlatava could read peoples minds, and she was his mother…

Aqualad swung his water-bearers at her and she blocked him, but then suddenly froze and spun

around and looked at Artemis with cat-like eyes.

She was reading her mind.

It was an odd, silent communication.

The girl just stood there, the two curved swords fell from her hands as if she was hypnotized.

The blond girl's memories poured into her mind. Memories of Paula, as a mother! And in a wheelchair? Then more memories, this time of Silver. With bandages over her eyes, a cane and a little girl? Then … just a short memory of her…

She remembered it all.

"Silver! Huntress!" She called out.

Both girls looked over at her.

"Stop." She just says.

"Oh? But this guy is so cute…" Huntress whined and tried to break free of Kid Flash's hold.

"I would be flattered if you weren't old enough to be _my_ mother." He said fast.

"There's something … we're … Just stop!" The other girl said.

Neither of them stopped.

"Well … we got one down, two to go." Rocket said.

"If you want me to stop, you better tell me why…" The white-haired girl smiled, as she continued to fight the others.

Suddenly a cry rang through the room.

"Mommy!"

Like clockwork, the girl turned towards the sound and stared into the darkness of the other side of the room.

"Ashley?" She called into the darkness.

"Mommy…" the desperate, sobbing voice of a little girl called back. "Mommy, help me!"

The white-haired girl started looking down at her hands and down herself.

"I'm coming, sweetheart." Though she sounded a little confused.

Artemis mother looked over at the other two, confused.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Kid Flash had let go of her.

"Well, this didn't go as planned," Cheshire said as she walked out of the darkness.

They heard a sigh from above them. "Let's just get these guys taken care off." Red X said and shut a red substance towards Huntress and Kid Flash.

Kid Flash moved out of the way.

But Huntress didn't.

"Mom!" Chesire screamed and knocked her out of the way. Both of them rolling across the floor. Cheshire's mask coming off in the process.

Huntress felt dizzy and looked at the other girl, now lying next to her.

"Why did you…" She stopped when she saw the other girl's face.

It was just like her own.

She reached out and felt her face.

Cheshire gave her a little smile.

She returned it, a bit confused. "Jade?"

"Yeah…" she nodded.

They got up and Huntress looked down at her feet. "How can I stand?"

"It's a long story," Artemis said.

"It seems my plan ended sooner than expected."

Suddenly the light came on in the dark side of the room.

Ra's al Ghul was standing beside two children, sat on chairs with their back to each other, bound. A crying, white-haired little girl and a blond unconscious boy.

"Ashley!" Silver yelled and moved towards him.

"At least I can take solace in that you all completed this mission." He said gently and patted the crying girl on the head.

All three of the assassins froze.

"What mission?" Artemis asked.

"How do you know about Ashley?" Silver asked.

"I know a lot of things…" He trailed off as the little girl kept begging for help, though she seemed a little confused at the sight of her mother. "But you … Mila … you did exceptionally well." He tilted the boy's head upward, as he was slowly coming to. "Your child has both powers and a title…"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mila said and crossed her arms. "I don't have any children."

The boy looked over at her, clearly recognizing her and clearly hurt by her words.

"I know for a fact that he is yours, after all, he does have your powers." Ra's al Ghul smiled.

The boy looked at him and his eyes changed, and tears started streaming down his face. "It's not true…"

All three assassin looked a bit uncomfortable.

"What's going on?" Artemis asked. Sensing there was something wrong.

"You're mother never told you?" Ra's al Ghul seemed far too amused.

"Told me what?" She asked.

"He wanted them to have kids…" The blond boy said through his tears.

The white-haired girl, Silver, sighed. "About twenty years ago, the master … told us to … give him the next generation of assassins."

Artemis looked at her mother. She looked at the floor.

The other assassin took over. "He told us to find suitable partners, strength, power, position or all three."

"We didn't consider Brains part of it." Her mother said bitterly as if to make a joke.

"So the only reason you had me…" Artemis trailed off in shock and disbelief.

"No!" Her mom insisted. "Well, yes. It's a lot more complicated than that…."

"We started the … mission because of our devotion to _him_ , but there was something neither he or we took into account…" Silver explained. "Our love for those children."

"It's an instinct." Mila chimed in.

"And you…" Paula said slowly and pointed at Ra's al Ghul. "Made the mistake of pulling my kids into this…"

"And we happen to have our teenage bodies and flexibility…" Silver smiled, her eyes shined. Then she looked down herself again. "Are we going to stay this way forever?"

"No," Mila shook her head with cat-like eyes. "He's done this before and we're apparently more stable than his last attempt."

"Well, we'll have to show him, how stable we are." Silver rubbed off the blood she had smeared over her eyes.

The three assassin women slowly walked towards him.

Kid Flash looked at the others. "What do say to me and Artemis trying to find the formula for whatever he's done to them?"

The others just nodded, mesmerized by the three young looking women.

"I'll run ahead." He said to Artemis and was gone.

The girl standing on the suspended pathway above them smiled.

* * *

There had to be a lab somewhere around here, right?

He looked at the endless corridor.

"What are you looking for, handsome?"

He stopped and looked behind him. There was no one there. He turned back around and there was a shadow standing one meter from him.

"I'm looking for a lab." He smiled. "Mind pointing me in the right direction?"

The shadow shook her head. "Sorry, can't do that."

He was fairly certain he'd meet her before. The one from Vlatava?

"Then you won't even step aside?" He asked and shut her a smile.

"You'll have to go through me…" She had a nice voice.

He smiled. "If you insist."

He moved towards her and she took hold of his arm and pushed him in the stomach.

He let out a gasp and moved faster.

She barely noticed him, and he managed to knock her over. She took hold of his costume and kicked him and flipped him over, so she sat on his stomach.

"Well … so many possibilities…" He could tell she was smiling under her mask.

She sounded way too familiar…

He kicked her in the stomach, and she fell off him.

The way she spoke…

She was quickly on her feet again.

He went for her again, but she blocked him and seemed to flip over his head and get him in the back.

"You're pretty good." He said trying to buy time to think of something.

"Thank you…" She said as he got to his feet. "My dad me everything…"

He huffed at the idea of a shadow family business.

He blocked another of her blows.

"So, what does that blond idiot think of you fighting other girls?"

He stopped and turned around.

Blond idiot … only a few people knew he was dating Artemis and he couldn't think of anyone who would…

He heard someone coming from behind. It was Artemis.

"Lia?" He said.

The shadow slowly pulled off her mask.

He heard Artemis come to a stop behind him.

Lia's black curls fell around her face and she shot him a flirty smile.

* * *

 **Please tell me what you think :)**

 **I'm sorry that's it probably not as climactic as you might have hoped.**

 **I'll try to update on time next week :)**


	80. Chapter 80

**And I'm back again.**

 **I really hope you like this one, because I do.**

 **here's your chapter.**

* * *

Wally just stood there, dumbfounded, as his childhood friend looked back at him with a smile.

"How? … when?..."

She leaned her head to one side and glanced at Artemis, who stood behind him. "All my life."

"But … how?"

Her smile grew wider and locked eyes with Artemis.

"Why don't you ask her?"

Wally turned to Artemis confused.

"You knew about this?"

She froze. "Well…"

"She's known for months."

Wally turned back to Lia.

"But why?"

She shrugged. "It's a family thing."

He shook his head. "No … I mean why the kidnapping? Why try to kill the queen of Vlatava? ... why the kiss?"

Artemis frowned behind them.

Lia's eyes grew soft, so did her smile.

"Because I like you." She said.

Wally blinked. "Wait … what?"

Lia shook her head smiling as if to say he was impossible. "I like you Wally, a lot."

It then occurred to him, that he was wearing a mask. How did she know it was him?

"Lia…" he started but didn't know what to say.

"We're losing time," Artemis said.

Wally nodded and speed passed Lia.

Lia turned around as she felt a wind go past her and began to follow him but suddenly stumbled and fell.

She looked down at her feet.

An arrow had gone through her pant leg and nailed it to her floor.

Wally stopped and looked back at Artemis.

"Can you handle her?"

Artemis put another arrow on the string of her bow and aimed it at Lia and smiled. "Oh yes, I can."

* * *

The white-haired woman looked from Ra's al Ghul to the little girl. Then she raised her sword in his direction.

"I'm not going to ask."

Ra's al Ghul seemed pleased with that.

"I had to have a contingency plan…" he smiled.

"I don't really care." She just said and slowly stepped towards him. "Give me back my daughter, or you'll have to visit that pit of yours."

He just smiled.

Robin signaled to Zatanna.

She nodded and muttered something and the rope around the two children fell off of them.

The blond boy didn't even move, but the girl jumped off the chair and ran to her mother, who dropped her sword and picked up the girl.

The girl just cried, while the white-haired woman just looked at her with extreme fascination, like she had never seen her before.

Ra's al Ghul looked at the blond boy, that just sat there, then towards the other assassin with curved swords.

Artemis' mother looked at her friend with concern. "Mila?"

The other woman held up a finger as if to hush her.

Ra's al Ghul reached for the boy.

The boy suddenly looked up at him. "Don't touch me." Then he turned to Mila with a broken look on his face. "I always knew you never wanted me in the first place, but…"

His mother just looked at him.

Paula looked at her.

"We don't have time for this," Paula said and pointed the crossbow at Ra's al Ghul. "How do we get back to normal."

"Don't you miss this?" Ra's al Ghul asked. "Holding a weapon in your hand?"

"Of course," the white-haired woman said and rocked her still crying daughter. "But that was then, and this was now."

He just smiled. "You can't. There is no way, no cure."

"Well, then I guess I'll take my anger out of you." Mila smiled and launched at him.

Huntress looked at her daughter Jade, who didn't seem to know what to do, then jumped into the fight.

The last assassin still seemed to just look at the little girl in her arms, but then notices the other two attacking. Suddenly she handed the sniffling child to Rocket, picked up her sword and smiled.

* * *

Wally had looked through every room until he finally found the room he was looking for.

It was empty.

He turned on the computer and found the research he was looking for.

He recognized the formula as the one he had found in his grandmother's blood, but there were a few changes.

If he remembered correctly it wore off his grandmother relatively quickly and she hadn't lost her memory either.

What could have…?

He looked around the room and saw a scrap of paper with some notes. Lia's handwriting.

He smiled. He knew just what to do.

He just hoped Artemis could hold her, while he got to work.

* * *

Lia swung at her.

Artemis evaded her.

"So how does it feel losing Wally to me?" Lia asked and kicked at her.

"I haven't lost anything to you, especially not Wally," Artemis said catching her fist and swiped her off the floor.

Lia pulled her down with her and rolled over so she was on top of Artemis.

"No, he knows you lied to him now…"

"So did you!" Artemis said and kicked her off of her.

"Perhaps but he'll forgive me." She smiled and took out a knife and launched at her.

"You got an answer for everything, don't you?" Artemis said as she blocked the knife with her bow.

Lia kicked her in the face.

Artemis dropped the bow in surprised when she tried to get up again, Lia was behind her with the bow, pressing against her neck.

"It doesn't even matter anymore…" Lia whispered into her ear. "Once you're out of the picture, Wally will be all mine…"

Artemis gasped for air.

"No, I won't." Wally suddenly speed towards them, pushing Lia away and helping Artemis up.

Lia looked stunned.

"But Wally I…" She started.

"Look … Lia, I'm sorry but…"

"Oh, you're going to be sorry." Suddenly Red X appeared between him and Lia. "I'm going to…" the guy then doubled over and started vomiting blood.

Artemis was taken aback, but Wally stepped closer.

"It's the xenothium," he explained. "It's radioactivity is slowly breaking down your body and going to kill, if you don't it'll kill you."

Red X pulled off his mask completely and huffed. "Well, the League has too many rules anyway." Then he gave them a weird smile.

* * *

Ra's al Ghul stood completely still with three swords and a crossbow ten centimeters from him and three angry former assassins staring him down.

"I recommend a technical retreat," Huntress said with a smile almost poking him with her crossbow.

Then he suddenly smiled. "How right you are my dear, Ubu grab the boy."

Suddenly the large muscular man came out of the shadows and picked up the blond boy.

"No!" The boy screamed.

"I'll be taking him with me though. As he has the most potential, given his ties to the royal family of Vlatava and his powers.

Mila just gave him a look, then looked at Ubu.

"Put him down!" She said sternly, like a mother to her child.

Ubu seemed to be uncomfortable at the tone.

"I said. Put. Him. Down!" She said irritated.

Ubu let go of the boy and looked down, like a child that had done wrong.

The boy ran away towards the heroes, who just stared at them in awe.

"Bad Ubu!" Silver scolded. "Sit down and think about what you have done!"

Ubu sat down on the floor, still with his head down.

Even Ra's al Ghul seemed surprised.

Paula smiled. "Have you forgotten who took care of him, when you first took him in?"

Ra's al Ghul signed flustered.

"Hey, guys," Wally said as he speed into the room, carrying Artemis. "I have what we need."

Silver smiled. "Looks like we have all we need, now…"

Ra's al Ghul shook his head smiling. "It seems I have no choice, but to leave … Ubu."

Ubu got up and followed his master.

"Master?" It came from behind Wally.

It was Lia, dragging a half-conscious Red X with her. "What do we do now?"

Ra's al Ghul didn't even acknowledge her and disappeared into the shadows.

Just as everyone was about to let out a breath of relief the building started to shake.

Mila signed. "Of course … now we have to run."

* * *

Robin looked around. "Did everyone get out?"

"Yeah," Artemis looked at Lia and Red X.

Rocket followed her line of sight and saw Wally looking at him.

"Hell of a way to find out, huh?" She said and put a hand on Artemis' shoulder.

Wally turned around. "You guys knew about this too?"

Everyone on the team froze. Lia smiled.

Wally shook his head and turned back to Lia. "No, you know what. I just want to know why … why did you … you were scared of him before…"

"It's what he does…" Mila explained.

"What?" He said and turned back around to look at her.

"Ra's al Ghul can control his shadows, because of a … suggestion he's put in their head. Couple that with that he also has a tendency to play on their desires… and you get control…" Paula explained.

"If it's a suggestion … then I can clear it from her mind." Miss Martian's voice was very meek.

Wally thought about for a second and looked at Lia, who'd taken a step back in fear.

"Do it." He said. "But clear only the …. suggestion."

* * *

"Almost done…" Wally said and turned around to the women. "But I will say this will probably be painful…"

Paula just rolled up her sleeve, ready for the injection.

Mila looked at the blond boy who'd sat on a couch on the other side of the room.

"You should have a talk with him." Silver said.

"Why?" She shot back.

"Because he's sad and you're his mother." She said and gave her old friend a look.

She huffed and shrugged. "I never thought of myself as his mother…"

"Maybe not, but you do care a lot about him." Silver said and smiled, as Mila huffed again. "If you didn't, I wouldn't have told Ubu to put him down and you wouldn't have gotten mad at your precious master."

Mila grimaced at her.

"Ladies, it's officially done." It came from the teenage boy with red hair.

"Finally, now we can go back to our normal lives…" it came from Mila.

"Wait." Silver said. "There is something I want to see before I do this."

* * *

The little girl gracefully danced across the room, as she sat on the edge of her seat, completely mesmerized.

In that moment she would have loved to accept any terms Ra's al Ghul had given her if she could watch that beautiful little girl every day for the rest of time.

"Are you Ashley's relative?"

She recognized the voice and looked up at Nico.

"Yes, a very distant relative." She smiled.

"Oh? You look so much alike. Will you be coming to watch her, instead of her mother then?" He asked and sat down next to her as he'd done before.

She took a good look at him, he was quite handsome. Then she looked down at syringe she'd hid inside her sleeve and smiled.

"No, this will be the only time."

She couldn't keep her eyes. This was the right thing to do. This was why she'd cut her own eyes to begin with. She wanted to protect her children, both Ashley and Cameron.

* * *

"Goodbye," Paula smiled at her old friend.

The other woman smiled back and picked up their back. The flight to Vlatava was leaving and she had a lot of explaining to do about how she and the young lord had gone missing.

"Remember," she said. "From this point on I'm Sara again."

Paula nodded. "I know, though I'll probably not meet you again." Then she looked at the little count. "Take good take of her okay."

The boy nodded with a little smile.

His mother put a hand on his head. "He'll keep me on my toes."

Artemis huffed and Wally just smiled.

As they walked away the little count looked up at his mother. When this flight was over, she would go back to being his chambermaid again. But when he read her mind, he knew that she cared for her a lot more than she let on.

She smiled down at him and pulled him against her gently.

He stumbled a little.

Wally smiled at the scene and took his phone out and dialed.

"Hero? How is that headgear I asked you to program coming along?"

* * *

He sipped his wine.

This had not gone as expected.

The three best assassins he had ever had were gone once again, and apart from Chesire so was their children.

But still … after seeing the way Paula's daughter had interacted Kid Flash, an seen how quickly he found the components for a cure and thinking back at how Paula's daughter had interacted with the Baron's redheaded grandson…

He smiled.

What useful information he could probably use when he saw the need for it.

* * *

He breathed heavily.

After the heroes had brought him to a hospital and he'd been cleared he'd just wandered around a little.

Though he could figure out why those four still was in the country. Had it been him, he would have booked it by now.

Their appearances hadn't even changed that much, he could still tell it was them, even with those freaky skin-colors they had before.

Well. He was just happy he was feeling a little better now, though the doctors had said that he would probably have lasting damage, though had could probably be fixed … somehow…

He pulled out an old photo from his pocket.

But what was he supposed to do now? He thought and looked in the direction the four teens had disappeared in. He had left the League of Shadows like that Kid Flash had advised him to …

He smiled down at the photo.

He supposed he could always go see what his brother was up to.

* * *

Wally looked out the window at the moving truck.

"I think I'll go over and say goodbye," he said distantly.

"Yes, that's a good idea." His mother said with a gentle smile. She had no clue as to Lia being a shadow.

He knocked on the door and Lia's mother opened and smiled at him.

"Wally? Here to say goodbye?"

"Yes," he smiled back. " And possibly help with the rest.

She gave him a hug. "Oh, I'm going to miss you … but this is what's best, for both me and Lia…"

He smiled and went into the house.

Lia was in her bedroom packing the last of her things into a box.

He knocked on the open door.

She looked up. "Hey." She smiled.

"Hey." He said and smiled like always. "Do you need any help?"

"No," she shook her head. "Is just this box and then I'm ready to go." She said and continued to pack books down in the box.

"Where are you going?" He asked and leaned up against the door.

"Far away. Where my dad can't get to us." She said.

He just nodded.

She stopped what she was doing and turned to him.

"You know, I knew exactly what I was doing, the whole time." She said and stepped closer towards him.

"Yeah." He signed and pushed off the door. "I know."

"But I did it, because I love you, and I wanted you all to myself." She stood in front of him. "What's wrong with that?"

She went up on the toes and puckered her lips.

Wally suddenly held a book up in front of her blocking her lips.

He gave her a stern look.

She shook her head and took the book from his hand and went to place it in the box.

"I'm sorry." He said.

She signed. "I'm too, I had these romantic ideas about us … but then _she_ came along…"

"Lia…"

"But there's nothing I can do about now…" She picked up the box and walked passed him. She turned around and looked at him. "But I want you to know, that the time I spent with you was … the most fun I'll ever have…"

He smiled. "Yeah, me too."

She smiled and turned and walked away with the box.

* * *

He looked up as Artemis, as she sat down on the bench beside him.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said back.

There was quiet.

"How's your mom?" He asked.

"Good … she was in a lot of pain in the beginning, but she's better now."

There was quiet again.

"We used to sit here late at night … just talking and looking at the stars." He said and stared into the night.

"Oh?" She just said.

"Why didn't you tell me about her?" He finally asked.

She shrugged and hugged her legs. "I wanted to … but something always seemed to come up, the team told I shouldn't … and she told me you wouldn't believe me…"

He thought about it for a while. "That makes sense…"

She looked up at him and let go of her legs. "It does?"

He shrugged. "Well, she was a friend for years and I never saw anything that would point to her being a bad guy, I probably wouldn't have believed you. Beside … I think these last few months have shown that I've kept my share of secrets."

She made a little smile. "Yeah."

He leaned in and put an arm around her.

"How about we try not to keep so many secrets from one another?"

She put her head on his shoulder. "Sounds good."

"And just try to get to know each other more the normal way?"

She nodded in agreement as they cuddled closer together.

"With that being said: what are you getting me for my birthday?" He asked with a smile.

She laughed.

* * *

 **So please tell me what you think.**

 **the story is officially over now and I wanted to thank you all for reading it and going on this over two year old journey with me.**

 **you guys have gotten me through some rough times and looking at the all positive comments on this story will always make me smile.**

 **I will be editing my story these next few months for grammar mistakes and etc. and deleting my author's notes as they aren't relevant anymore.**

 **I'll also be putting up a poll in the next few days on which character to wrote about next, so feel free to vote. Though I don't know when I'll start the next story as my life is a little hectic at the moment.**

 **But thank you again for read and commenting and I hope you'll read my stories in the future. Bye :)**


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